Delimitation of the CBD : an examination of research aims and tactics, with some examples drawn from downtown Winnipeg

Abstract

...In urban geography, the delimitation of the Central Business District (CBD) has become widely accepted as a valid research procedure. This thesis attempts to evaluate the delimitation method proposed by Murphy and Vance (1954 A) known as the Central Business Index (CBI) method. The evaluation is carried out in three phases. In chapter two, the development of the CBD concept is traced in the literature of economics, sociology, and geography. The CBD concept is seen to originate in models of urban land use which postulate that competition for space is the major structuring factor, and thus all urban functions are interrelated by this competitive mechanism. It is the highly commercial center which is designated as the CBD: the concentration of uses able to pay the highest rents, derived the greatest utility from access to the entire urban population...