Social and Cultural Aspects

Abstract

The city centre plays a key role in the social and cultural life of a community. It very largely determines, in the eyes of the inhabitants and of visitors and tourists, the social, political and aesthetic prestige of the city. This is true of any city, but the importance and sphere of influence of the central area is correspondingly greater and wider in the case of capital cities and great metropolitan areas. Here the centre is a symbol of national culture and character, and it plays a decisive role in creating the ‘myth’ of the capital city. We can see this demonstrated in the way airline posters represent New York by Manhattan, Moscow by Red Square and Paris by the Champs Élysées.