Town centre

Town centres are symbolic to settlements as a whole and often contain the best examples of architecture, main landmark buildings, statues and public spaces associated with a place.

Poblacion (literally translated in Spanish, meaning "population")[1] is practiced in the Philippines as a term to describe the central area of a settlement.

Comprehensive redevelopment of many British town centres occurred in the 1960s and 1970s, which often resulted in development of larger store formats, often with modernist styles of architecture significantly different from their surroundings.

During the Thatcher government of the 1980s, a change in planning policy allowed competing out-of-town shopping and leisure centres to be developed.

Planning policy focus aims to maintain town centres as vibrant successful places, which are accessible to everyone by means other than the private car.