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Acity centre, also known as anurban core, is thecommercial,cultural and often the historical,political, and geographic heart of acity. The term "city centre" is used mainly inBritish English, and closely equivalent terms that exist in other languages, such as "centre-ville" in French,Stadtzentrum in German, orshìzhōngxīn (市中心) in Chinese. In theUnited States, the term "downtown" is generally used, though a few cities, likePhiladelphia, use the term "Center City" or "City Center".
The city centre is the (often historical) area of a city where commerce, entertainment, shopping, and political power are concentrated.[1] The term is commonly used in many English-speaking countries and has direct equivalents in many other languages. However, noticeably, in theUnited States, the term "downtown" is commonly used to denote a city centre, and inCanada the terms "city centre" and "downtown" are used interchangeably, most notable in the modern, purpose-built cores of formerboroughs or newer suburban cities that had no traditional urban core (i.e.North York City Centre andMississauga City Centre). InAustralia, the term "Central Business District" is widely used to refer to the city centre, but usage of the term "City Centre" is increasing, especially inMelbourne.[citation needed] InSouth Africa, "CBD" is used in formal contexts, but in informal contexts, the city centre is referred to as "town", and despite the growth of decentralised CBDs such asSandton anduMhlanga "town" continues to refer to the original CBDs of cities.
In many cities, theCentral 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 isParis:La Défense is the central business district ofParis, but it is not the city centre. In most larger and/or older cities, the CBD and the city centre may overlap only partially, 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 such cases, it may be known as the "old town" (sometimes capitalized as a proper name).
City centres originated in the Neolithic period around 7500 BCE as agricultural surpluses allowed permanent, dense settlements. These urban cores, such asMesopotamia'sUruk, served as hubs for trade, politics and religion. Historically, they evolved from fortified citadels to commercial centers, later shaped by industrialization and modern suburbanization.
The early evidence for the phrase, city centre was first coined inTait Edinburgh's Journal in 1834.
In most Australian cities, the city centre to some extent coincides with thecentral 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. The term "CBD" is not often used in the capitalCanberra, where the primary activity is government; its "city centre" is usually identified as the district called "City" or "Civic".
InChinese, the urban centre of a city is called the "city centre" or "urban core" (Chinese:市中心;pinyin:shì zhōngxīn). In many cities, it is the historical city centre and the cultural and commercial centre. Historically, the CBD often occupied one portion of the city centre. In recent years, larger cities have often developed CBDs or financial districts that occupy a part of the city centre or are outside the historical city centre completely. For example, Beijing's historical city centre is defined by the former city walls and remains the political and cultural centre of the city, butBeijing's CBD sits inChaoyang District, to the east of the historical city;Shanghai's city centre was defined by theOld Chinese City, theInternational Settlement and theFrench Concession and sat on the west bank of theHuangpu River, whereas the modern financial district is concentrated onLujiazui, a newly developed area across the river from the traditional city centre (although parts of the traditional city centre remain key financial and business centres).
The Hebrew term for "city centre" is a direct translation: "מרכז העיר" (merkaz ha'ir); however it is used inconsistently in different cities throughout Israel due to their extremely varied topographies and urban designs.[citation needed]
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In Dutch, the termsbinnenstad,centrum,stadscentrum, orstadskern are used to describe the city centre.Amsterdam is a clear example of the city centre and the central business district not being the same area. The city centre of Amsterdam isCentrum, the historical heart of the city, but theCBD areas of Amsterdam are all in different districts. Additionally,Westpoort serves as the city'sindustrial park.
Because of thebombardment of Rotterdam during World War II, with the loss of its historical core, the city centre and the CBD are the same area inRotterdam.
City centre andcentral business district are used interchangeably in New Zealand for any urban area that had city status prior to the 1989 local government reorganisation which saw many city councils amalgamate with surrounding boroughs, counties and towns to form larger districts. Prior to 1989, city status was granted to a town or borough with a population greater than 20,000. In everyday language, New Zealanders often refer to city centres as going to "town".
Wellington metropolitan area has 4 respective city centres inWellington,Lower Hutt,Porirua andUpper Hutt whereasAuckland metropolitan area has 2 city centres inAuckland andManukau.Timaru has a "city centre" whereas towns larger than it such asBlenheim orPukekohe have "town centres" as they did not achieve city status prior to the 1989 local government reform which changed the population threshold for city status to 50,000.
Poblacion (from Spanishpoblación, meaning "population"), sometimes abbreviated as Pob., is a term used in the Philippines to refer to theadministrative center,downtown,old town, orcommercial area of acity ormunicipality. It may consist of a singlebarangay or multiple barangays. Colloquially, thepoblacion area is also referred to as thebayan (see also other definitions ofbayan),plaza, orcentro.
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