Central business district

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 Western Hemisphere; 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.

Downtown Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

Downtown Harrisburg, is the central core business and government center which surrounds the focal point of Market Square, and serves as the regional center for the greater metropolitan area of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA.

Harrisburg's downtown Center City comprises the original 80-acre (320,000 m²) borough laid out in a grid pattern by John Harris in 1785. East-west streets are named and north-south streets are numbered. Market Street, running east-west, is the dividing point between north and south street designations. Sightseeing is probably best done on foot downtown and by car elsewhere.

Harrisburg's Central Business District includes the Pennsylvania State Capitol Complex and other state government offices, the Dauphin County Courthouse and other county government offices, City of Harrisburg offices, and other, non-government related commercial retail and office development. Some residential development, both in apartment high-rises and in the upper floors of mixed commercial/residential use buildings, is also located in the downtown area.

Pretoria

Pretoria is a city in the northern part of Gauteng Province, South Africa. It is one of the country's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the executive branch of government. (Cape Town is the legislative capital and Bloemfontein the judicial capital). Pretoria is the central part of the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality which was formed by the amalgamation of several former local authorities including Centurion and Soshanguve). There have been proposals to change the name of Pretoria itself to Tshwane, and the proposed name change has caused some controversy.

Pretoria is named after the Voortrekker leader Andries Pretorius, and within South Africa is popularly known as the Jacaranda City due to the thousands of Jacaranda trees planted in its streets, parks and gardens.

History

Pretoria was founded in 1855 by Marthinus Pretorius, a leader of the Voortrekkers, who named it after his father Andries Pretorius and chose a spot on the banks of the "Apies rivier" (Afrikaans for "Monkeys river") to be the new capital of the South African Republic (ZAR). The elder Pretorius had become a national hero of the Voortrekkers after his victory over the Dingane and the Zulus in the Battle of Blood River. The elder Pretorius also negotiated the Sand River Convention (1852), in which Britain acknowledged the independence of the Transvaal. It became the capital of the South African Republic (ZAR) on 1 May 1860.