City centre
A city centre is the commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart of a city.
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[edit] 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.
[edit] Usage
[edit] Netherlands
In Dutch the terms binnenstad, centrum, stadscentrum or stadskern are used to describe the city centre. Amsterdam is a clear example of the city centre and the central business district not being the same area. The city centre of Amsterdam is Centrum, the historical heart of the city, while the CBD of Amsterdam is the Zuidas in the south.
