THE CBD

GLOUCESTER CBD OR CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT

Characteristics

• It is the commercial centre.
• It contains the main shops (including department stores like Debenhams), offices eg solicitors and financial institutions of the urban area eg HSBC Bank and The Nationwide Building Society
• It is usually the most accessible (easy to get to) part of the city. Think about how people would get to the centre of Gloucester.....This is because most of the main transport routes lead here.
• questions to ask yourself. Where is the train station in relation to the CBD? Where can you park a car? Where is the bus/coach terminal? Where are the Park and Ride carparks?
• Due to high land values, buildings tend to be tall and building density is high. Shop rental rates and the rates (local council tax) on shops in the CBD is also high.

Land Values

Land values tend to be very high, this is the result of great competition to locate here. It is cheaper to build up than out. Also, there is a limited amount of open space available. New developments tend to focus on redeveloping existing areas rather than using the limited open space available.

Population Density

During the day the CBD is densely populated. This is due to the high number of pedestrians and shop and office workers. However, the CBD has a limited number of houses and flats due to the high land values in this area.

Improvements to the CBD

City councils are keen to make improvements to CBDs so that they can attract more shoppers and businesses to it. That means more money for the Council in return!