1. The Central Business District (CBD)

2. Central Business District
The central business district is where most business and commerce is located takes up less than 1% of the urban land area, yet contains a large % of the services offered in the city public, business, and consumer services are ALL offered in the CBD

3. Public Services in the CBD
public services include city hall, courts, county and state agencies, and libraries
centrally located for ease of accessibility to all residents
sports centers and conventions centers are often downtown to stimulate commerce in the CBD

4. Business Services in the CBD
examples include advertising agencies, banks, financial institutions, and law firms
proximity to other business service providers
promotes collaboration and face-to-face meetings

5. Consumer Services in the CBD
historically, three types of retail services clustered in a CBD:
retailers with a high threshold
retailers with a high range
retailers that served people who worked in the CBD
changing shopping habits and a shift of the more affluent to the suburbs have reduced the importance of retail services in the CBD

6. Characteristics of the CBD at A Glance
vertical landscapes (above and below!)
expensive land values
department stores & specialist shops
shopping malls and pedestrian areas
cultural/historical buildings, museums
offices, finance, banks, administration, town hall
bus, subway, and railway stations
multi-story parking lots

7. Did You Know? skyscrapers are illegal in Washington, DC!
the downtown core doesn’t have a single building taller than 14 stories in 1899, Congress passed the Heights of Buildings Act at first limiting buildings to the height of the U.S. Capitol

8. Competition for Land in the CBD
Bid-Rent Curve
high demand + limited space = vertical development
Underground CBD
dense network of infrastructure
underground passageways
Skyscrapers
demand for space in CBDs has made high-rise structures economically practical

9. What Is NOT in the CBD? MANUFACTURING
historically manufacturing was located in CBDs along waterfronts, but many of these ports are too small for modern ships and the ports have moved
the large land areas manufacturing needs are available in the suburbs at lower prices
cities are converting abandoned waterfronts to new commercial and recreational activities

10. What Is NOT in the CBD? RESIDENTS (20TH C)
pushed and pulled to suburbs:
larger homes with yards (pull)
modern schools (pull)
increased rents because retail wanted the space (push)
pollution, crime, congestion (push)
NOTE!
there is a current trend (21st C) for young professional and older “empty-nesters” to move back to the CBD

12. Food Deserts an area in a developed country where food is hard to obtain often in poor, downtown neighborhoods, and affects cities’ poorest residents