Central Business District - Overview

Overview

The term CBD or Central Business District is the central district of a city, usually typified by a concentration of retail and office buildings.

The term city place is similar to CBD in that both serve the same purpose for the city, and both are marked by a higher-than-usual urban density as well as often having the tallest buildings in a city. City centre differs from downtown in that the latter can be geographically located anywhere in a city, while a city centre is generally located near the geographic heart of the city. London arguably has three city centres, the City of London, the medieval City of Westminster and the transformed Docklands area. Mexico City also has more than one city centre: Centro Histórico, the colonial; Paseo de la Reforma - Polanco the mid-late 20th century CBD, and Santa Fe, the new CBD. In Taipei, Taiwan, the area around its main railway station is regarded as the historic city centre while the Xinyi Planned Area located to the east of the said railway station is the current CBD of Taipei and not only is it considered the financial district of Taipei, but it is arguably the premier shopping area in Taipei and Taipei's most modern cosmopolitan district. Taipei 101, Taipei's tallest building and currently the world's second tallest habitable skyscraper, is located in Xinyi Planned Area.

The shape and type of a CBD or downtown almost always closely reflect the city's history. Cities with maximum building height restrictions often have a separate historic section quite apart from the financial and administrative district. In cities that grew up suddenly and more recently, such as those in the western half of North America, a single central area will often contain all the tallest buildings. It has been said that downtowns (as understood in North America) are therefore a separate phenomenon.

Central business districts usually have very small resident populations. For example, the population of the City of London declined from over 200,000 in the year 1700 to less than 10,000 today. In some instances, however (and particularly in large Australian and Canadian cities), CBD populations are increasing as younger professional and business workers move into city centre apartments (gentrification). Central Business District is the central district of any town or major city.