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CBD, central business district — English
The main “hub of activity” in the city is the central business district (or CBD). The oldest cities in the world have developed from people settling around a central area of activity, be it bartering, trading, socialising, religious practices or even education. The CBD traditionally lies near to the centre of an urban area and contains the major shops, professional services, and offices. It is the main centre for commerce and entertainment, and serves as the focus for all transport routes. All retail businesses (see “retail facilities”), professional practitioners and offices belonging to major international companies are traditionally located in the CBD, and the transport network is specifically designed to conveniently take people to and from that area. According to all the well-known, older urban structure models (of, among others, Burgess, Hoyt, Mann, and Ullman and Harris) the CBD is situated somewhere inside or near to the centre of the city. The prices of land in the CBD are traditionally at a premium, that is, more expensive than anywhere else in the urban complex. Many cities in a wide variety of countries had (for a variety of reasons) over the years undergone dramatic changes in their spatial organisation. Many cities grew so large that people had to travel too far to reach the old CBD (see “urbanisation” and “transport problems”). The “journey to work” reality and travel-time concept resulted in the development of secondary up-market retail and business areas, with high-value real estate, in areas far away from the old CBD (see “retail facilities”). In many of the older cities, the CBDs have become less attractive to up-market businesses, professional practices and entertainment, and some former CBDs have been overrun by homeless people, informal trading, criminal activities and vice (see “refugee”). Rejuvenation (or gentrification) of derelict CBDs has taken place in many cities the world over. It requires huge financial input from the public as well as the private sectors to return a CBD to its former prestigious glory. The CBD of Johannesburg is currently in a slow and faltering process of gentrification.
