A civic center or civic centre is a prominent

land Land, also known as dry land, ground, or earth, is the solid terrestrial surface of the planet Earth that is not submerged by the ocean or other bodies of water. It makes up 29% of Earth's surface and includes the continents and various isla ...

area within a

community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, t ...

that is constructed to be its focal point or center. It usually contains one or more dominant

public buildings A building, or edifice, is an enclosed structure with a roof and walls standing more or less permanently in one place, such as a house or factory (although there's also portable buildings). Buildings come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and f ...

, which may also include a government building. Recently, the term "civic center" has been used in reference to an entire

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...

of a community or a major

shopping center A shopping center (American English) or shopping centre (Commonwealth English), also called a shopping complex, shopping arcade, shopping plaza or galleria, is a group of shops built together, sometimes under one roof. The first known collec ...

in the middle of a community. In this type of civic center, special attention is paid to the way public structures are grouped and landscaped. In some American cities, a multi-purpose arena is named "Civic Center", for example Columbus Civic Center. Such "civic centers" combine venues for sporting events, theaters, concerts and similar events. In Australia, a civic centre can refer to a civic precinct, a show or meeting venue, or can also be used as a brand of

Shopping Centre A shopping center ( American English) or shopping centre (Commonwealth English), also called a shopping complex, shopping arcade, shopping plaza or galleria, is a group of shops built together, sometimes under one roof. The first known colle ...

Notable civic centers

India

* Delhi Civic Centre

North America

* Civic Center, Houston *

Seattle Center Seattle Center is an arts, educational, tourism and entertainment center in Seattle, Washington, United States. Spanning an area of 74 acres (30 ha), it was originally built for the 1962 World's Fair. Its landmark feature is the tall Space Needle ...

Forest Park A forest park is a park whose main theme is its forest of trees. Forest parks are found both in the mountains and in the urban environment. Examples Chile * Forest Park, Santiago China * Gongqing Forest Park, Shanghai * Mufushan National Forest ...

, St Louis * Columbus Civic Center * Miami Health District * Tallahassee Civic Center *

Mid-Hudson Civic Center Majed J. Nesheiwat Convention Center (formerly the Mid-Hudson Civic Center) is a venue located in Poughkeepsie, New York, consisting of Mair Hall (a concert and convention hall) and the McCann Ice Arena (an ice skating venue). It was built in th ...

San Francisco Civic Center The Civic Center in San Francisco, California, is an area located a few blocks north of the intersection of Market Street and Van Ness Avenue that contains many of the city's largest government and cultural institutions. It has two large plazas ...

* Honolulu Capitol District *

National Mall The National Mall is a landscaped park near the downtown area of Washington, D.C., the capital city of the United States. It contains and borders a number of museums of the Smithsonian Institution, art galleries, cultural institutions, and va ...

Denver Civic Center The Denver Civic Center is a civic center area that includes two parks surrounded by government and cultural buildings and spaces. Civic Center is located in central Denver, Colorado, on the south side of Downtown Denver. Much of the area is a his ...

* Lee County Civic Center, FL *

Florence Civic Center The Florence Center is a 10,000-seat multipurpose arena in Florence, South Carolina. The arena was known as the Florence Civic Center until it rebranded in November 2017. It hosted the infamous eighth WWF In Your House pay-per-view in 1996, dur ...

* Ottawa Civic Centre * Hartford Civic Center * Providence Civic Center *

Springfield Civic Center The MassMutual Center (formerly Springfield Civic Center) is a multi-purpose arena and convention center complex located in downtown Springfield, Massachusetts, in the city's Metro Center. The arena opened in 1972 and the convention center opened ...

* Peoria Civic Center * Richard J. Daley Center, formerly Chicago Civic Center *

Millennium Park Millennium Park is a public park located in the Loop community area of Chicago, operated by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs. The park, opened in 2004 and intended to celebrate the third millennium, is a prominent civic center ne ...

Cumberland County Civic Center Cross Insurance Arena (formerly Cumberland County Civic Center) is a multi-purpose arena located in Portland, Maine. Built in 1977, at a cost of US$8 million, it is the home arena for the Maine Mariners of the ECHL. There are 6,206 permanent sea ...

Los Angeles Civic Center The Civic Center neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, is the administrative core of the City of Los Angeles, County of Los Angeles, and a complex of city, county, state, and federal government offices, buildings, and courthouses. It is lo ...

Saint Paul Civic Center The St. Paul Civic Center was an indoor arena located in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The arena opened in 1973 and was closed and demolished in 1998. It once sat near the Ordway Music Theater and the Roy Wilkins Auditorium. The Xcel Energy Center w ...

* Evansville Civic Center Complex * New York City Civic Center *

Marin County Civic Center The Marin County Civic Center, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, is located in San Rafael, California, United States. Groundbreaking for the Civic Center Administration Building took place in 1960, after Wright's death and under the watch of Wrig ...

After the

amalgamation of Toronto The amalgamation of Toronto was the creation of the city limits of Toronto, Ontario, Canada after amalgamating, annexing, and merging with surrounding municipalities since the 18th century. The most recent occurrence of amalgamation was in 199 ...

in 1998, five of the six municipalities in the former

Metro Toronto The Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto was an upper-tier level of municipal government in Ontario, Canada, from 1953 to 1998. It was made up of the old city of Toronto and numerous townships, towns and villages that surrounded Toronto, whic ...

used the Civic Centre name in referring to their respective city halls before its abolition. * East York Civic Centre * Etobicoke Civic Centre * North York Civic Centre *

Scarborough Civic Centre The Scarborough Civic Centre is a civic centre located in the Scarborough district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was designed by architect Raymond Moriyama during the development of Scarborough City Centre and initially opened as the city hall ...

* York Civic Centre

United Kingdom

In most cases civic centres in the UK are a focus for local government offices and public service buildings. The Cardiff Civic Centre is probably the oldest and best preserved civic centre in the UK. With the reforms of local government in London in 1965 and across England in anticipation of the implementation of the

Redcliffe-Maud Report The Redcliffe-Maud Report (Cmnd. 4040) was published in 1969 by the '' Royal Commission on Local Government in England'', under the chairmanship of Lord Redcliffe-Maud. Although the commission's proposals were broadly accepted by the Labour gove ...

in 1974, a number of local authorities commissioned new civic centres sometimes funded by disposing of their 19th Century Town Hall buildings. Sir

Basil Spence Sir Basil Urwin Spence, (13 August 1907 – 19 November 1976) was a Scottish architect, most notably associated with Coventry Cathedral in England and the Beehive in New Zealand, but also responsible for numerous other buildings in the Moderni ...

was responsible for designing three of these civic centres: *''Hampstead Civic Centre'', which was only partially completed; and of which only the

Swiss Cottage Library Swiss Cottage Library is the central library in the public library service of the London Borough of Camden, housed in an architectural landmark building in Avenue Road designed by Sir Basil Spence. It has been Grade II Listed since 1997. Back ...

(1964) still exists. *''

Sunderland Civic Centre Sunderland Civic Centre was a municipal building in the Burdon Road in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, England. It was the headquarters of Sunderland City Council until November 2021. History After Sunderland became a municipal borough in 1835, civ ...

'' (1970). *''Kensington and Chelsea Civic Centre'' (1977). Other noteworthy civic centres include: *''Barking and Dagenham Civic Centre'' at

Becontree Heath Becontree Heath (also spelt Beacontree Heath) is an open space in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. The name has also been applied to the local area, in particular to the RM8 postal district. History Becontree Heath functioned as the ...

(1937). *

Southampton Civic Centre The Civic Centre is a municipal building located in the Cultural Quarter area within the city of Southampton, England. It comprises offices occupied by Southampton City Council, the SeaCity Museum, the Guildhall, the Southampton City Art Gal ...

(1932). *

Newport Civic Centre Newport Civic Centre ( cy, Canolfan Ddinesig Casnewydd) is a municipal building in Godfrey Road in Newport, South Wales. The civic centre, which is the headquarters of Newport City Council, is a Grade II* Listed building. History The first to ...

(main building 1940, clock tower completed 1964). *

Plymouth Civic Centre Plymouth Civic Centre is a former principal administrative centre of Plymouth, Devon, England. Opened in 1962, the building was used by Plymouth City Council until it was sold for development in 2015. It has been Grade II Listed since 2007. Hi ...

(1950–1962), Devon, Architect Hector J W Stirling. *

Newcastle Civic Centre Newcastle Civic Centre is a local government building located in the Haymarket area of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is the main administrative and ceremonial centre for Newcastle City Council. Designed by the city architect, George Kenyo ...

(1967). *

Civic Centre, Swansea Swansea Civic Centre ( cy, Canolfan Ddinesig Abertawe) – formerly known as County Hall – is the principal administrative centre of Swansea Council. Standing some 800 m southwest of Swansea city centre, by the seafront and overlooking Swans ...

(opened in 1982 as the County Hall)

China

Shenzhen Civic Center Civic Center or Citizens' Center () is a government building in Shenzhen, China. It is located within the Futian Central Business District and was constructed at a cost of CNY The renminbi (; symbol: ¥; ISO code: CNY; abbreviation: RM ...

* *

Romania

* Bucharest Civic Centre

References

{{Developments Urban studies and planning terminology Town squares Local government Neighbourhoods