It includes the area that is within a radius of roughly 0.75 miles (1.2 km) of Sheffield Cathedral and is encircled by the Inner Ring Road, a circular route started in the late 1960s and completed in 2007.

Projects include the development of new squares and public spaces; new residential and office buildings, including St. Pauls Tower, Velocity Living and Velocity Tower; the Heart of the City II and Moor shopping areas; redevelopment of existing buildings, such as the Crucible Theatre; better transport and shopping facilities; and new cultural attractions, such as museums and art galleries.

The city's famous 1 o' clock time signal is located where Barker's Pool meets Leopold Street on the side of H.L.

Originally Sheffield's primary shopping area, it became run down and lost some of its prominence due to uncertainty surrounding the adjacent and now axed Sevenstone retail development.

However, the opening of a new purpose-built indoor market hall in November 2013 and the ongoing Sheffield Moor Development plan footfall has increased and there has been a stimulation of businesses reopening and moving into the area.

The Scottish Widows group own the majority of The Moor and are funding its staged redevelopment,[3] including the significant public realm improvements to the street scene that were completed during 2013.

[4] The Riverside District, lying along the banks of the River Don, was traditionally an industrial zone including the Kelham Island Quarter.

West Street, the main thoroughfare in this area, is home to Sheffield's largest concentration of bars, clubs and restaurants and is heavily used by young adults, students in particular.

[8] The St Georges Quarter, right in the centre of the West End zone, is relatively small and focused upon the end of West Street as it meets the Inner Ring Road at Sheffield University Officer Training Corps home - Somme Barracks, main entrance is on Gell Street.

In recent years there have been numerous new developments in Sheffield City Centre seeing a large number of new additions to the skyline.

Most of this work has been carried out under the guidance of the 'City Centre Masterplan 2008' and examples of its progress can be seen Tudor Square, Riverside, Castlegate and the Sheffield Digital Campus.

Riverside exchange and the West Bar combine to make a large business district on the north side of the city centre and are also home to legal and governmental offices.

[12] Sheffield City Council announced in late 2013 that they will proceed with their own development scheme to replace the axed Sevenstone project.

Sheffield City Centre plays host to a number of themed markets throughout the year with most taking place on Fargate, in the Peace Gardens or at Barkers Pool.

[16] Sheffield railway station lies on the edge of the city centre and is within easy walking distance of the main shopping areas.

The 560/564 service travels to London Victoria Coach Station, stopping occasionally at Chesterfield and Milton Keynes en route.

In recent years, it has lost importance as the South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive have constructed several ‘mini-interchanges’ around the city centre, to accommodate shopping and other activities for areas which are served poorly by Sheffield Interchange.

[12] Sheffield City Council has announced that it will eventually take a new scheme forward using a combination of private and public funds.

[13] The Riverside Exchange is a new, large business district in the north of the city centre and is home to organisations such as Irwin Mitchell and the UK Border Agency.

Devonshire Green, a small landscaped district park which hosted the main stage of the annual Sheffield Tramlines Festival from 2009 until 2014 as well as outdoor cinema screenings throughout the summer.