Central business districts (CBDs) or central business areas (CBAs) or commercial precincts are the primary commercial and business hubs of cities and urban areas. They are the most convenient places for business activities in a community. According to the concentric zone model, propounded by Ernest Burgess, a sociologist, urban land use should be organised around the central business district (CBD) in concentric rings, with each ring having a different land use. Burgess’ model suggested that the innermost ring should be the business district, while the inner circles should be occupied by the poor and struggling classes. This organised way of life makes living comfortable for everybody, both the rich and the poor.
On the other hand, sector theory or Hoyt sector model posits that urban growth does not occur in concentric rings, as earlier suggested by Burgess, but rather in wedge-shaped sectors. The common factor of the two models is that their innermost circle is reserved for CBD from where other uses spread out. If not well established, CBD will haphazardly develop.
CBDs or CBAs features include: (i) High concentration of business: Offices, financial institutions like banks and insurance companies, and corporate headquarters of business organisations are usually sited in CBDs or CBAs, (ii) Retail and entertainment: Shopping centres, restaurants, and entertainment venues are common in CBDs, (iii) Easy accessibility: CBDs are often serviced with more modes of public transportation like road, train, water and cable. They also have multi-storey car parks or large expanses of land for car parking lots. (iv) Dense infrastructure: CBDs usually have high-rise buildings, concentrations of network of roads, and utilities, and (v) Lastly, CBDs are centres of attraction with iconic buildings and people usually visit them to do physical and window shopping. In some states in America, CBDs are called ‘downtown”- the commercial area of a city, which is the busiest, with the most shops, restaurants, buildings, vehicle presence and pedestrians and in the UK, they are called city centres. In Dubai and Berlin, CBDs have some of the biggest malls in the world!
CBDs serve as economic hubs by driving local and regional economies; they are employment centres which attract workers and businesses like magnet; and they are service providers often offering services like banking, finance, insurance, law, restaurant, hospitality, transport and security. Commercial precincts usually require sales girls and boys, and usually welcome enquiries from those looking for employment opportunities. They are clusters of banks and finance houses to provide support for the business men and women in the areas. There are basically high rates of transactions between two or more than two parties in CBAs, so they usually have a high rate of law firms who are there to draft contract documents, return to the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and make changes to limited liability organisations’ ownership structure. CBDs play a vital role in urban economies, serving as hubs for commerce, production, innovation, and community cohesion. Estate surveyors and valuers or chartered surveyors, also have high concentration in CBDs because of the high rate of property exchange, especially, rental properties.
The challenges of CBDs include high rates of congestion. High concentration of commercial activities in an area may lead to high foot and vehicular traffic. Due to competition for space by different people, the value of real estate (land and buildings) in CBDs is usually higher than in other areas of the same community, and they usually give security concerns to the city managers. CBDs are potential targets for crimes and safety issues. Despite the challenges of CBDs, they are still necessities in living communities because they are convenient for residents and visitors to do shopping, for CBD workers to work, and for producers to sell their products. CBDs provide networking opportunities and foster business connections and collaborations. Urban vitality is promoted by CBDs as they ensure that the city’s economic and social vibrancy is ensured. Some CBDs have different sections for different activities like electronics section, clothes section, food hubs, wine sales, etc. CBD development is based on community critical path maps and the principle that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line.
It is expedient and most convenient for the commonest daily activities of residents in an area to be in the centre of the community where everybody has one or two things to transact there. This will give all the residents equal opportunity of access to the area where they mostly transact business. CBDs development is gaining ground globally as city developers are seeing the benefits of its creation. One NYC central business district is located in Midtown Manhattan in New York City and is considered to be one of the most iconic, largest, and well-known CBDs in the world. Midtown Manhattan is home to a concentration of important businesses, office buildings, and beautiful landmarks like Times Square, Westin Times Square, etc. In Midtown Manhattan, there are more than five train stations including (i) Times Square by 42nd Street, (ii) West 42nd Street by 7th Avenue, (iii) 42nd Street by 7th Avenue, (iv) West 42nd Street by Broadway, and (v) 7th Avenue by West 41st Street.
Louis Wirth, an American sociologist, defined a city as a relatively large, dense, and permanent settlement of socially diverse-cultured individuals. Spriro Kostof, in “The City Shaped: Urban Patterns and Meanings Through History” (Boston, 1991, pp 37 – 41) said cities are places where a certain energised crowding of people takes place. This crowding must be organised in such a way that daily hustling will be interesting and dissipation of energy will be minimised. Central business district affords all the people in a community the opportunity to minimise their journey time to the areas of their commonest activities which are commercial. CBDs are locations having the principal commercial streets and main public buildings and where consumers can get the products they need with minimum journey time. Governments’ revenue generation usually focus on these areas and make sure that they are well serviced and secured.
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