City Centre

A city centre (or city center) is the commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is not usually used in American English; rather, in North America, the term Downtown is used.

The city centre is the (often historical) area of a city where commerce, entertainment, shopping and political power are concentrated. The term is commonly used in many English-speaking countries and has direct equivalents in many other languages. However, noticeably, in the United States, the term "downtown" is commonly used to denote a city centre, and in Canada the terms "city centre" and "downtown" are used interchangeably. In Australia, the term "Central Business District" is widely used to refer to the city centre, but usage of the term "City Centre" is increasing, especially in Melbourne. In South Africa, "CBD" is used in formal contexts, but in informal contexts, the city center is referred to as "town", and despite the growth of decentralised CBDs such as Sandton and Umhlanga "town" continues to refer to the original CBDs of cities.

In many cities, the Central Business District (CBD) is within the city centre, but the concept "city centre" differs from the CBD. The concept of the "CBD" revolves solely around economic and financial power, but the "city centre" also includes historical, political and cultural factors. A clear example is Paris: La Défense is the central business district of Paris, but it is not the city centre. In most larger and/or older cities, the CBD and the city centre will only partially overlap, if at all.

A city centre is often the first settled part of a city, which can make it the most historical part of a city.

In most Australian cities, the city centre to some extent coincides with the central business district, with the result that "the City", "city centre" and "central business district" or "CBD" are regarded as near synonyms. However, in some Australian cities, the city centre and the CBD are geographically separately identified. In Sydney and Brisbane, for example, the term "CBD" is the preferred term for the city centre. In Adelaide, by contrast, the term "city centre" is preferred, and the CBD is not entirely regarded as coterminous. The term "CBD" is not often used in Canberra; its "city centre" is usually identified as the district called "City" or "Civic".

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