A city centre is the commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart of a city, especially those in the Western world. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English and Canadian English, and closely equivalent terms exist in other languages, such as "centre-ville" in French, Stadtzentrum in German, or shìzhōngxīn (市中心) in Chinese. In the United States, the term "downtown" is generally used, though a few cities, like Philadelphia, use the term "Center City", while others such as Portland use the term “City Center”.
