What is "central business district"

n. The central area of a city in which there is a concentration of certain retail and business activities, especially in older cities with rail transportation.

A Central Business District (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. In larger cities, it is often synonymous with the city's "financial district". Geographically, it often coincides with the " city centre" or " downtown", but the two concepts are separate: many cities have a central business district located away from its commercial or cultural city centre or downtown. Both the CBD and the city centre or downtown may also coincide with the central activities district.

A city's CBD is usually typified by a concentration of retail and office buildings. The CBD usually has an urban density higher than the surrounding districts of the city, and is often the location of the tallest buildings in the city.

The CBD is often also the "city centre" or "downtown", but this is also often not the case. Midtown Manhattan is the largest central business district in New York City and in the world; yet Lower Manhattan, commonly referred to as Downtown Manhattan, actually represents the second largest distinct CBD in New York City and is geographically situated south of Midtown. For example, London's "city centre" is usually regarded as encompassing the historic City of London and the medieval City of Westminster, whereas the City of London and the transformed Docklands area are regarded as its two CBDs. Mexico City also has a historic city centre, the colonial-era Centro Histórico, along with two CBDs: the mid-late 20th century Paseo de la Reforma - Polanco, and the new Santa Fe. 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, being both the financial district and the premier shopping area, and the location of Taipei 101, Taipei's tallest building.

The shape and type of a CBD 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 relatively quickly and more recently, such as those in the western half of North America, a single central area or downtown will often contain all the tallest buildings and act both as the CBD and the commercial and cultural city centre. It has been said that downtowns (as understood in North America) are therefore conceptually distinct from both CBDs and city centres.

CBDs 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).

The Central Business District of Claremont, New Hampshire, is centered on Broad Street Park and the Claremont Opera House (aka city hall), and the area between the park and the Sugar River, whose power was responsible for Claremont's growth in the 19th century. The downtown business district grew organically until the 1880s, when an association of local business owners coordinated its further growth into the 20th century. The district includes commercial structures dating from the 1830s into the 20th century, from wood-frame Greek Revival structures to multi-story brick and masonry blocks. The two most prominent buildings are the Opera House and the Hotel Claremont, also known as the Hotel Moody or the Moody Hotel, an elaborate Queen Anne/Colonial Revival four-story block on Tremont Square.

The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.

Central Business District (CBD) is the historic city center of what has become Greater Downtown Miami, in Miami, Florida, United States. It is generally bound by Biscayne Boulevard, Bayfront Park and Museum Park on the east, the Miami River to the south, North 6th Street to the north, and Interstate 95 to the west. While it is technically Miami's official " downtown", the term "Downtown Miami" has come to refer to a much larger area along the bay from the Rickenbacker Causeway to the Julia Tuttle Causeway. It is also distinct from the financial district, which in this case is neighboring Brickell to the south. However, the downtown core has over of office space, including more than fifteen buildings with greater than of floor space.