Central business district - Definition and Overview

Downtown Honolulu in Hawaii, United States, an example of an urban downtown district

Central business district, (CBD used in Australia, New Zealand and sometimes elsewhere), or downtown (used mainly in North America) are terms referring to the commercial heart of a city.

The CBD or downtown is the central district of a city, usually typified by a concentration of retail and commercial buildings. Although applicable to any city, both terms usually refer to larger cities.

The term city centre (or center city) is similar to CBD or downtown in that both serve the same purpose for the city, and both are seen by a higher-than-usual urban density as well as the tallest buildings in a city. City centre differs from downtown in that downtown can be geographically located anywhere in a city, while city centre is located near the geographic heart of the city. Examples of a city centre can be found in Philadelphia, Houston, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, London, Sydney, and similar cities.

List of CBDs and downtowns

A street in Ynysybwl, Wales, relatively typical of a British small town's high street.

• Central and Tsim Sha Tsui in Hong Kong
• Beijing CBD in China
• Melbourne central business district in Victoria, Australia
• Downtown Ottawa, in Canada
• In the United States:
  • Downtown Chicago in Illinois
  • Downtown Honolulu in Hawaii
  • Downtown Houston in Texas
  • Downtown Los Angeles in California
  • Downtown New Haven in Connecticut
  • Downtown Manhattan New York City (the Lower Manhattan CBD)
  • Midtown Manhattan New York City (the largest CBD in the country)
  • Downtown, Seattle, Washington
  • Downtown Orlando
  • Central Business District, New Orleans in Louisiana
  • Downtown Pittsburgh
  • Downtown Salt Lake City
  • Downtown San Jose
  • Downtown Syracuse