Where is the City’s Center? Five Measures of Central Location

Matthew J. Holian
San Jose State University

In this article, the author describes and evaluates five databases that provide different measures of city center location. He identifies research that has used each database, calculates average distances between the locations, presents case studies for two cities, and provides suggestions for analysts searching for appropriate measures of city center location. Among the findings are that the location of a city’s city hall is a better proxy for the location of a city’s central business district (CBD) than are other measures in current use.