Downtown

The terms ‘downtown’ and ‘central business area’ or CBA refer to any commercial area that is located at the heart of a city. Downtown is the usual term used in North America. In the United Kingdom, Ireland, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, the term ‘central business district’ is used by geographers as well as some others, thought the colloquial term used in these areas is ‘city center’.

In he United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Ireland, this term is commonly shortened to simply the word ‘city’ when used in general conversation among inhabitants. An exception to this is in London where ‘the City’ refers specifically to the City of London financial district instead of any other portion of London.

Some cities in the United States have a mixed use district which is known as uptown and is located near the downtown area. The center business district or downtown is always the center part of a city, and is usually marked by a concentration of commercial and retail buildings and businesses. Both of these terms apply mainly to very large cities, although the terms are used to discuss smaller cities’ layouts as well.

Many times, tall buildings are associated with downtown areas as well. The downtown or center business district area usually also has a higher than average urban density level, as well as a the tallest buildings in the area. City center differs from the term downtown in that a down town area can be located anywhere within the city, whereas a city center is typically located at the geographic center of the city.

Cities that have central business districts have many similar characteristics including a distinct land use pattern that can be delimited from the remainder of the settlement. Also, the central business district contains the settlement’s main public buildings. A central business center will also contain the major retail outlets though this becoming less often the case, particularly in the United States.

Central business districts generally have vertical zoning, as well as the greatest concentration and number of pedestrians and traffic, in general. Central business districts have the tallest buildings. This is because the land value of these prime locations is so high that owners need to get as much out of the space as possible. Central business districts also tend to be a focal point for transport. The central business district contains the greatest proportion of the settlement’s office of various types and also has the highest land values in the entire city region.

Some central business districts worth noting are Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, Abidjan, Lagos, Nairobi, Tel Aviv and other Asian cities. In Asia the cities that utilize a central business district design include Beijing, Hong King, Shanghai, Tokyo and many more. In Australia there is Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane.

Europe has some unique central business district cities, such as Amsterdam, Barcelona, Antwerp, Berlin, Birmingham, Copenhagen, Budapest, Brussels, and many more.

Downtown areas are a good place to start when exploring new cities while on vacation. Her you will find the most interesting shops as well as the busiest areas of human activity, such as pedestrians, drivers and other types of activity. You will certainly find the most activity and resources at the down or central business district of a city.

Deon Melchior is the Editor and Publisher of Article Click. For more FREE articles for your ezine and websites visit ArticleClick.com. Article Click is a free content article directory. This means that as a publisher you may reprint the articles that are included in our site, as long as the article is unedited and the author box is included with it's live hyperlinks.