2. Main functions of the CBD
• Shops
• Offices
• Culture and entertainment
• Transport
3. 1. Shops:
• CBD at top of shopping hierarchy in a city.
• Has widest range of shops and the largest
department stores.
• Shops mainly sell comparison goods and high
order goods
• Draw customer from a wide sphere of influence
• Highest land costs in the centre .
5. 2. Offices:
• Banks, building societies, solicitors,
insurance companies and government
offices occupy high rise office blocks or
the upper floors above shops in the CBD
6. 3. Culture and entertainment:
• Theatres, cinemas (although now increasingly
out of town), clubs, bars and restaurants
• Some cities have certain areas famous for
nightlife e.g. London’s West End and Newcastle’s
Quayside
7. Transport
• CBD is usually very accessible.
• The focus of roads
• Usually train station and bus station nearby
• Largest urban areas have underground systems
• Trams are being reintroduced into some city
centres
8. Problems and attempted solutions
in the CBD
• Traffic congestion
• Pollution
• Lack of space and the high cost of land
• Urban decline
9. 1.Traffic congestion:
• In UK towns grew and street patterns were
established before widespread car ownership
• Roads are often narrow
• Grid lock
10. Attempted solutions:
• Ring roads and bypasses
• Urban motorways and flyovers
• Public transport schemes like ‘park and ride’
• Multi-storey car parks
• Pedestrianisation of high streets
• Congestion charge
11. 2. Pollution
• Water, air land and noise pollution are all
common in CBDs.
• Some illnesses such as asthma are exacerbated
by urban living
12. Attempted solutions
• Laws against the dumping of litter and sewage in
rivers
• Improved provision of litter bins and road
sweeping (inc a relatively recent addition of
different types of bins to encourage recycling)
• Clean Air Acts
• Vehicles which will run on cleaner fuels
• Increased planting of trees and shrubs
13. 3. Lack of space and the high cost of
land
• Small retailers have been forced away
• ‘Clone towns’
15. 4. Urban decline:
• As CBDs compete with out of town centres they
experience decline, inc vacant properties,
vandalism etc
• Growth of internet etcmeans CBD may no longer
be the attractive location it once was, especially
for those such as offices who do not need to
attract passing trade
