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A central business district ( also known as CBD, central actvities district or in North America as "Downtown") is the commercial and often geographic heart of a city. In Australia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, China (especially Hong Kong), Ireland, Kenya, New Zealand, Singapore and South Africa, the phrase is commonly used,[citation needed] and is often colloquially abbreviated to "CBD". The CBD is the central district of a city, usually typified by a concentration of retail and commercial buildings.[1] The term city centre (or city center) is similar to CBD 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 often having the tallest buildings in a city. City centre differs from downtown in that the latter can be geographically located anywhere in a city, while a city centre is generally located near the geographic heart of the city. London, United Kingdom, effectively has three city centres, the City of London, the medieval City of Westminster and Canary Wharf. Lucknow, India has three CBDs. The shape and type of a CBD or downtown 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 suddenly and more recently, such as those in the western half of North America, a single central area will often contain all the tallest buildings. It has been said that downtowns (as understood in North America) are therefore a separate phenomenon.[2] Central business districts usually have very small resident populations. For example, the population of the City of London declined from over 200,000 in 1700 to less than 10,000 today. In some instances, however (and particularly in large Australian cities), CBD populations are increasing as younger professional and business workers move into city centre apartments.
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