Downtown Yangon (also known as the Yangon Central Business District or Yangon CBD, formerly the Cantonment) is the

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the Commerce, commercial and business center 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 wit ...

Yangon Yangon, formerly romanized as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar. Yangon was the List of capitals of Myanmar, capital of Myanmar until 2005 and served as such until 2006, when the State Peace and Dev ...

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

, located close to the geographic centre of the metropolitan area. The area features many of the city's major arts institutions and sports facilities.

History

The east-west grid of downtown Yangon was laid out by British military engineers Alexander Fraser and Montgomerie after the Second Anglo-Burmese War in 1852. The city was later developed by the Public Works Department and Bengal Corps of Engineers. The majority of sites on the

Yangon City Heritage List The Yangon City Heritage List is a list of man-made landmarks in Yangon, Myanmar, so designated by the city government, Yangon City Development Committee. The list consists of 188 structures (as of 2001), and is largely made up of mostly religious s ...

are located in Yangon's CBD.

Architecture

Yangon's CBD is known for its leafy avenues and fin-de-siècle architecture. The former

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

colonial capital has the highest number of colonial period buildings in Southeast Asia. The CBD is still mainly made up of decaying colonial buildings. The former High Court, the former Secretariat buildings, the former St. Paul's English High School and the Strand Hotel are excellent examples of the bygone era. Most buildings in the CBD from this era are four-story mix-use (residential and commercial) buildings with ceilings, allowing for the construction of mezzanines. Despite their less-than-perfect conditions, the buildings remain highly sought after and most expensive in the city's property market. In 1996, the Yangon City Development Committee created a

of old buildings and structures in the city that cannot be modified or torn down without approval. In 2012, the city of Yangon imposed a 50-year moratorium on demolition of buildings older than 50 years. The Yangon Heritage Trust, an NGO started by Thant Myint-U, aims to create heritage areas in Downtown, and attract investors to renovate buildings for commercial use.

Boundaries

Geographically, the CBD is bound by the Pun Hlaing River to the west, the Hlaing River to the south and Pazundaung Creek to the east.

Transportation

The pattern of south to north roads is as follows: one broad wide broad road, two narrow streets, one mid-size street, two more narrow streets, and then another wide broad road. This order is repeated from west to east. The narrow streets are numbered; the medium and broad roads are named. For instance, the Lanmadaw Road is followed by -wide 17th and 18th streets then the medium Sint-Oh-Dan Road, the 30-foot 19th and 20th streets, followed by another wide Latha Road, followed again by the two numbered small roads 21st and 22nd streets, and so on. The roads running parallel west to east were the Strand Road, Merchant Road, Maha Bandula (née Dalhousie) Road, Anawrahta (Fraser) Road, and Bogyoke Aung San (Montgomerie) Road. The CBD's road layout follows a grid pattern, based on four types of roads: * Broad 160-foot (49-m) wide roads running west to east * Broad 100-foot (30-m) wide roads running south to north * Two narrow 30-foot (9.1-m) wide streets running south to north * Mid-size 50-foot (15-m) wide streets running south to north Since February 2010,

pickup truck A pickup truck or pickup is a Truck_classification#Table_of_US_GVWR_classifications, light or medium duty truck that has an enclosed cabin (truck), cabin, and a back end made up of a cargo bed that is enclosed by three low walls with no roof (th ...

bus lines have been forbidden to run in 6 townships of the CBD, namely Latha, Lanmadaw, Pabedan, Kyauktada, Botahtaung and Pazundaung Townships. In May 2003, a ban on using car horns was implemented in six townships of The CBD to reduce

noise pollution Noise pollution, or sound pollution, is the propagation of noise or sound with potential harmful effects on humans and animals. The source of outdoor noise worldwide is mainly caused by machines, transport and propagation systems.Senate Publi ...

. In April 2004, the car horn ban was expanded to cover the entire city.

Gallery

Yangon Region Court.jpg, The Yangon Region Court building on Strand Road Yangon, Strand Road, Myanmar, Burma.jpg, Strand Road Yangon, Strand Hotel, Myanmar.jpg, Strand Hotel Yangon, Burmese High Court, Myanmar.jpg, Former Burmese High Court, Yangon High Court Yangon, Yangon City Hall, Myanmar.jpg, Yangon City Hall

References

{{reflist Yangon Central business districts