Coordinates: 53°22′53″N 1°28′29″W / 53.3814°N 1.4746°W / 53.3814; -1.4746

Sheffield City Centre—often just referred to as town—is a district of the City of Sheffield, and part of the Sheffield Central ward. It includes the area that is within a radius of roughly 1.2 kilometres (0.75 mi) of Sheffield Cathedral, and is encircled by the Inner Ring Road—a circular route started in the late 1960s and completed in 2007. As well as the cathedral, notable buildings in the city centre include the Grade I listed Town Hall, the City Hall, and the Winter Gardens. Several areas of the city centre have been designated as quarters. It is home to the city's major business, transport, leisure and cultural attractions. The City centre is currently undergoing massive re-generation with every section of the City centre set to be re-developed. Plans and projects include the development of new squares and public spaces, new residential and office buildings including St. Pauls Tower, Velocity Living, and the under-construction Velocity Tower, the Sevenstone and Moor shopping areas, redevelopment of existing buildings such as the Crucible Theatre and better transport and shopping facilities and new cultural attractions such as museums and art galleries.

Sheffield ⁱ/ˈʃɛfiːld/ is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely industrial roots to encompass a wider economic base. The population of the City of Sheffield is 555,500 (2010 est.) and it is one of the eight largest regional English cities that make up the English Core Cities Group.

During the 19th century, Sheffield gained an international reputation for steel production. Many innovations were developed locally, including crucible and stainless steel, fuelling an almost tenfold increase in the population during the Industrial Revolution. Sheffield received its municipal charter in 1843, becoming the City of Sheffield in 1893. International competition in iron and steel caused a decline in traditional local industries during the 1970s and 1980s, coinciding with the collapse of coal mining in the area.

A city centre is the commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart of a city.

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.

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.