Growth Of The Cbd example essay topic

THE CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT Introduction The central business district (CBD) acts as the most important part of a city where the businesses are found along with the commercial activities in the centre of the city, forming what is known as the core. The CBD is a gradational fragmented zone rather than a single line that can actually be found. There are many important factors that contribute to the growth of the CBD. More purchasing power, better transportation and a larger population are preliminary conditions that have occurred as a slow process in their convergence after 1870.

Other conditions that occurred over time include the economies of scale, the elimination of middlemen, the growth and location of dime stores, a need for financial exports and the vertical growth of buildings in the CBD. Changes in technology and the effects on the CBD during the later 1800's will be discussed. Street patterns and block sizes will be touched on briefly with examples of why they are important factors in the growth of the CBD. In terms of retail location, there are certain principles that will be outlined and explained. It is clear that the CBD is an extremely important part of a city as it provides its citizens with the convenience of easily accessed goods and services because of improvement in transportation and other developments in the centre of the city. (Brozowski, 2003) The core of the city has undergone many changes which began as a benefit for society and for each business or industry within the district.

This paper will illustrate that all the factors previously mentioned are what keep a city and a society functioning in the easiest yet most beneficial way possible. A Brief History of the CBD The central business district began as a "retail-commercial district" and transformed into an "office-commercial complex" from the turn of to the middle of the century. From mid century to now, the CBD has changed again to a "convention-tourist-entertainment centre" in the larger cities. In cities that are not as large, the CBD still remains a "retail-commercial" centre. (Hartshorn, 1992; p. 322) Between 1840 and 170, industrial and commercial industries expanded as retail spread from place to place. Retail was mixed between warehousing and finance.

The industrial sector began to decrease as other sectors expanded in the downtown area by 1870 and 1900 as well as wholesaling. The Industrial Revolution was an important turning point for the changes in the growth of the CBD. Important Factors in the Growth of the CBD The Industrial Revolution was the beginning of the preliminary conditions that were brought into the CBD after 1870. More purchasing power appeared in the CBD resulting from the Industrial Revolution. There was more money available to people because of the expansion of the city after the revolution which in turn gave people the desire to buy more goods. The retail sector therefore gained more purchasing power as the industrial sector expanded and hired more people.

The spending habits of urban families also show the importance of travel and transportation. (Oi, and Shul diner, 1962; p. 3) The second preliminary condition was the increase of better transportation. The streetcar became important with the expansion of retail in the downtown area. Again, when there are more people, there is more money to circulate and build a better CBD. With better transportation, more people are attracted to the city centre because it is more convenient for shopping in the different sections and stores in the area. Lastly, population is a huge factor in the growth of the CBD.

Growth being the key word, we can say that when there is a larger population, there is growth in a community with jobs and transportation creating more money and expanding the city outwards. Immigration is the reason for the rapid expansion and population growth in cities after 1870. Immigration continues to be a factor in the extended population and expansion of cities all over the world. Some other factors that affect the growth of the CBD are the conditions that change over time but not as slow as the preliminary conditions. Economies of scale deal with production and selling of goods.

The more goods that are produced means that there are more goods to be sold and eventually the products will be cheaper depending on the amounts that are selling. For example, large numbers of VCR's were produced and sold. The more that were produced, the more that were sold. When the DVD player came out, the prices of the VCRs decreased and sold and the DVD players began to sell as more were made of the new product.

The prices eventually drop and sell more rapidly until people are used to the next new product. Another factor is the 'cut out' of middlemen by the manufacturers... (Brozowski, 2003) It was cheaper to buy goods from a retail store and transportation was available and easy to acquire. The growth of dime stores and there locations at the transport stops contributed in the growth of the CBD because it costs less to transport goods when the stores were located directly at the stops. Dime stores, as there name suggests, were what we call bargain shops today. They were cheap and convenient.

The growth of the finance centre began with the need for financial exports. More people were needed to handle the money that entered into the CBD. With the growth of the finance centre, the growing height of buildings became a factor. The vertical growth of buildings resulted in retail pushing industry and wholesale out to the side which was beneficial for the growth of finance. Population is what was wanted from this change and the overall vertical growth produced many technology changes and positive effects on the CBD. (Hartshorn, 1992; p 322-359) Changes in Technology and Effects on the CBD Before 1880, buildings were constructed with dense building stone and the strength of the walls determined the height that the building would be able to reach.

If a taller building was wanted, the walls would have to be constructed extremely thick to support the weight. The thick walls proved to be a waste of space in the CBD... (Brozowski, 2003) New technology was the solution to this problem and the beginning of a new city. At the beginning of the 19th century, iron girders were used as part of the industrial framing system and support for building height. In 1847, Henry Fiedler came up with a technique to make beams with cast and wrought iron sections. Rivets were used with angles and plates to make connections.

(Jayachandran, 1991; p 3) "Wrought iron was used in tension since it was twice as strong as cast iron; cast iron was used mostly in struts or columns". (Jayachandran, 1991; p 3) The stress was no longer on the walls of the building structure but on the girders instead. The vertical growth of the city expanded and buildings could be constructed in less stable areas since the buildings were supported by iron bars. The vertical growth of the cities posed the question of transportation from the bottom to the top since stairs were not a reasonable suggestion for travelling the number of floors that were constructed within the building. This is when the invention and introduction of the elevator appeared.

In the mid 1800's, the elevator was introduced as a safe means of vertical transportation in the new enhanced vertical buildings. (Brozowski, 2003) The increase in height also presented a need for improvement of materials in the areas of stability and safety precautions such as fire proofing and communication because of the stronger winds that are present at higher elevations. The result of the vertical growth began with a large number of new offices that were built due to the vertical ness equaling the addition of space and moved to the improvement of the concentration of employment. A problem that occurred with the vertical growth was the congestion of the people at certain times of the day and with their cars since parking was limited and more people were working and traveling around the core.

Bigger freeways and multi-level parking had hoped to solve this problem but instead more cars caused more congestion so the subway became the most relevant means of transportation in the improved CBD. The vertical growth made way for improvement of new street patterns and block sizes in the CBD as well. Street Patterns and Block Sizes These two improvements, street patterns and block sizes, are extremely important in the internal structure of the CBD. They help to form the framework for the city as do the vertical buildings for vertical calculations of the city.

(Murphy, Vance and Epstein, p. 22) The patterns used for the streets and the sizes of each sector in the city play a huge role in the succession of the CBD. Different zones are developed in the city, a pattern which is to help guide the construction of the it and to define each area to better itself and make improvement more visible. An example of a zone pattern includes; Retail Business Uses which are subdivided beginning with food; restaurants, grocery stores, all stores dealing with all foods. Clothing; all types of clothing and fabric stores and shoe stores. Household; fireplace, ovens, sinks, baths, chairs and couches. Automotive; car and truck sales, service centers, tires and parts.

Variety; typical convenient stores selling cigarettes, lottery tickets, and treats. Miscellaneous; anything from jewellery to flowers and second hand shops. (Murphy, Vance and Epstein, p. 26) These classifications which are clearly subdivided are giving an idea of the land uses which help to map out the block sizes and street patterns in the CBD. Retail location is one of the zones that were just discussed when looking at land use, size and street patterns. There are other certain principles that influence the growth of the CBD as well when dealing with the retail location. Retail Location and its Principles "More important than the size and shape of the CBD are the ways in which the district is occupied and used".

(Murphy, and Vance, p. 331) "The "location" of a company may not be confined to the address of the headquarters". (Grant and Nij man, 2002; p 325) Some businesses such as factories may be located elsewhere in the city, not just at the prime business sites. In terms of retail location, certain principles arise beginning with the trading area potential. The trade area are the shopping malls for example.

The possibility of population growth in the future may have an effect on its location within the CBD as well as grocery stores which are already starting to move out of the immediate congested areas. Accessibility to the trade area is another principle that relies on location for the transport routes. If a store is located away from the transport routes, that business is not going to be as successful as the stores that are located on or nearby the routes. The growth potential for the city and the whole area is important because if that area is declining, the location of a business there might not be the best idea. Business interception is a possibility when a store is located in an area that population is in competition (Hartshorn, 1992: p 338-342).

This idea can be viewed in the description of "ring interceptors" (Hartshorn, 1992: p 365). A cumulative attraction was the next factor where the shopping centers were filled with different business chains presenting the image of 'look at all the nice stuff' in the hoping that people will come and buy their products. This was followed by compatibility and then the decreasing competitive hazard of grocery stores and site economics (rent). Grocery stores were spreading out to there own locations, not in immediate congested areas as stated before and depending on the location, rent was great or horrible as was the success of a business according to location.

(Brozowski, 2003) Location has been stated more than once as one of the most important factors within the CBD and many changes have occurred to make location of areas more successful. The CBD has undergone many positive changes and expansions as well as deterioration which is not covered in this paper simply because the focus is merely on the positive factors, changes and effects of the CBD. Conclusion Although the CBD does cause some problems in the city, the suburbs that have formed because of these issues is just another view of city growth on the outskirts as seen in Toronto and many other large cities. Overall, the CBD is greatly appreciated and beneficial for millions. All of the factors that have been discussed throughout this paper have illustrated positive results for the final outcomes and this in turn presents the question that if the CBD didn't exist, how well off would people be? Without the CBD, life in general would not be as easy as it is today only because of the CBD and the changes that have taken place over the years to upgrade it.

All of these factors dealing with the CBD have influenced our entire population and has given us all the best and easiest possible means of life. The CBD is the most beneficial invention to mankind. Without it, there wouldn't be enough time in a year to do the things people do in a day throughout the CBD. Ashlee Gowan.