City Centre - Overview

Overview

The city centre is the (often historical) area of a city where commerce, entertainment, shopping and political power are concentrated. The term is most commonly used in the United Kingdom and Ireland, as opposed to "downtown", which is most commonly used in North America. While in most cases, the CBD is within the city centre, the concept "city centre" differs from the Central business district. The latter solely revolves around economic and financial power, while the former also includes historical, political and cultural factors (e.g. La Défense is the central business district of Paris, but is not the city centre).

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

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