Central business district
The downtown area ( in Switzerland in some places Inner City) is the inner part of a city, also emphasizing the function within the urban fabric referred to as city or general town center or city center, where usually make all the important roads and supply routes, opening into one another or intersect. Furthermore, this focus retailers, services and facilities in the city, depending on the status of the city, regional administrations, train and bus stations (ZOB ) - ie part of the tertiary sector. Because of the high price of land there is a tendency for buildings with high-rise buildings and high building density and a low or dwindling population and a high number of commuters. A more precise definition can be made through the shop window index, the CBD - height index and the CBD - intensity index.
In many cities in the region of the inner city with the area of the historical center, the urban nucleus collapses, so here sights ( churches, architectural and cultural monuments, historical buildings ) are concentrated. As an interior town of the district is called, carries no specially designated name, but is colloquially referred to as such.
The city is considered in the space sciences as a type of center ( center type) and typological distinction from other centers. After this observation is under downtown mostly a historically grown core of a city understood the centers in case of a system other centers (eg inner cities or other incidental or district centers, neighborhood centers, special or atypical centers) are assigned. As a rule, special features are emerging in a system centers that are classified under aspects of a functional or hierarchical gradation.
Inner cities can develop very different forms in Germany, depending on local and regional circumstances. Ideally, the inner cities are compressed old town centers of cities that have grown in the historic dimensions. Most is in them the living of the upper and middle classes, sometimes even living in general largely disappeared or pushed back to single and outlying areas or on upper floors. In general, tertiary uses ( shops, offices, public buildings ) and transport equipment dominate the image of the inner cities. Inhabited from all walks downtown and its major streets and squares characterize the residential and commercial buildings in the upper and middle layer, is hardly to be found in Germany yet. Especially in the German cities have transport, commercial and administrative uses of the living suppressed and the once inhabited Old Town becomes a central business district ( central business district ) changed the city.
Methods that discriminate downtown sub-centers
Showcase Index
The showcase index is the percentage of the total length of all the shop windows in a street or a block in the total length of all the fronts of the houses or roads. There are no generally accepted limits, indicating the central function of a region - because of the strong regional differences in the type of building it is difficult to compare the inner cities with this index. In general, the proportion of shop windows, the more modern the building rises. However, it is possible to find relative Boundaries within a region. Sometimes shows the showcase index that within a city next to a historic city center, a new commercial town center has emerged.
CBD - height index
" CBD " ( Central Business District ) is commonly referred to as the English technical term in Germany as a synonym for downtown. The CBD - height index is the ratio of all commercially used floor area of a building block to the building footprint. This term was introduced in the mid 20th century by the American geographer James E. Vance and RE Murphy, who dealt extensively with urban planning.
CBD - intensity index
Also, the CBD - intensity index was introduced by Murphy and Vance. This is, however, to the percentage of all CBD typically used floor space in a building block to the total floor area of a building block.