City Centre or Civic (postcode: 2601) is the Central Business District of Canberra, Australia's capital city. The city centre was officially established in 1927. It was meant to be called Civic Centre, but then Prime Minister Stanley Bruce vetoed the idea and it became officially known as City Centre. However, City Centre is still most commonly referred to as "Civic". The population of Civic on census night 2001 was 1413 people.
Some of the earliest buildings constructed in Canberra were the Sydney and Melbourne buildings which flank Northbourne Avenue, the main road through Civic and the main entrance road into Canberra. The buildings house many shops, clubs and restaurants.
Unlike many cities, Canberra has very strict planning rules including height limits on buildings: the maximum height of the office tower blocks in Civic is 13 floors, giving Canberra a "small town feel" to many visitors.
Last updated: 06-02-2005 11:48:50