WHAT IS CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT (CBD)?

La Défense remote view from Eiffel Tower 2nd Floor,
the largest business district
in Europe, in Paris, France

A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and often geographic heart of a city. In the United States, it is commonly called "downtown" or "city center". The latter term is also commonly used in Australia, Canada, Ireland and the United Kingdom. A central business district may also be called a central activities district.

The term "central business district" refers to the central district of a city, usually typified by a concentration of retail and office buildings. The term "city place" is similar to "CBD" in that both serve the same purpose for the city, and both are marked by a higher-than-usual urban density as well as often having the tallest buildings in a city. "City centre" differs from "downtown" in that the latter can be geographically located anywhere in a city, while a city centre is generally located near the geographic heart of the city. London arguably has three city centres, the City of London, the medieval City of Westminster and the transformed Docklands area. Mexico City also has more than one city centre: Centro Histórico, the colonial; Paseo de la Reforma - Polanco the mid-late 20th century CBD, and Santa Fe, the new CBD. In Taipei, Taiwan, the area around its main railway station is regarded as the historic city centre while the Xinyi Planned Area located to the east of the said railway station is the current CBD of Taipei and not only is it considered the financial district of Taipei, but it is arguably the premier shopping area in Taipei and Taipei's most modern cosmopolitan district. Taipei 101, Taipei's tallest building and currently the world's second tallest habitable skyscraper, is located in Xinyi Planned Area.

The shape and type of a CBD or downtown almost always closely reflect the city's history. Cities with maximum building height restrictions often have a separate historic section quite apart from the financial and administrative district. In cities that grew up suddenly and more recently, such as those in the western half of North America, a single central area will often contain all the tallest buildings. It has been said that downtowns (as understood in North America) are therefore a separate phenomenon.

Central business districts usually have very small resident populations. For example, the population of the City of London declined from over 200,000 in the year 1700 to less than 10,000 today. In some instances, however (and particularly in large Australian and Canadian cities), CBD populations are increasing as younger professional and business workers move into city centre apartments.

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PSEi falls 0.64% by noon break as Q2 GDP prompts profit-taking

Philippine share prices slipped on Thursday as investors pocketed gains from the recent climb a 15-month high on the PSEi, citing the second quarter gross domestic product (GDP) results as an excuse to take profits.

 

The bellwether PSEi dipped by 46.08 points or 0.64 percent to 7,114.38 at the noon close. The All Shares index slipped by 23.23 points or 0.55 percent to 4,208.57.

 

The market went into a correction phase after investors pocketed gains following days of anticipating better numbers from the second quarter output, AB Capital Securities Inc. research head Jose Vistan told GMA News Online.

 

"The market is a market that discounts events in the future. In the past few days, people have priced in a good GDP result and the changes in the MSCI, pushing the index higher," he said.

 

"Now, people are taking a sell-on-news mentality after GDP came out higher than the 6.1 percent consensus," he added.

 

Early Thursday, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported the economy expanded by 6.4 percent in the second quarter, matching that of Malaysia as the second fastest in Asia next to China. 

 

DA Market Securities Inc. said a GDP result below 5.7 percent will be considered weak, while 5.7 to 6 percent will show improvement but maintains concerns of a slowing economy and above 6 percent will be considered strong. 

 

Meanwhile, the weight of Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company, Ayala Land Inc., Ayala Corp. and Energy Development Corp. were adjusted higher in the MSCI Philippine index, a measure of the performance of large and mid-cap companies in the Philippine market. The adjustment will take effect on September 1.

 

The market will continue to correct but will not see a steep drop given the positive news, Vistan said.

 

"It's normal for a correction to take place, since this is an attractive level to sell," he added.

Asean bourses pursue collaboration

SCREENGRAB from www.aseanexchanges.org

Asean Exchanges, a regional collaboration of bourses including the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), on Friday vowed to boost efforts to spotlight Asean as one asset class amid the backdrop of increasingly complex global financial markets.

As the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) move toward the creation of a single economic community by 2015, the members of Asean Exchanges have likewise pursued parallel capital market initiatives since 2011. Asean Exchanges is a collaboration of seven exchanges from Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

In a statement from Singapore Friday, Asean Exchanges said it had convened the 21st Asean Exchanges’ chief executive officers’ meeting to discuss the next collaborative action steps to market and promote Asean as one asset class.

Speaking on behalf of Asean Exchanges, Magnus Bocker, CEO of Singapore Exchange, said: “The collaborative action among the Asean Exchanges has been a vital force in moving things forward to achieve our goals and this is most evident in the significant progress we have made over a relatively short period of time.”

Each member has likewise embarked on its own in-market engaging activities with the market players to create greater visibility of Asean products to investors, Bocker said.

This collaboration aims to promote the growth of the Asean capital market by driving cross-border collaboration, streamlining access to Asean, creating Asean-centric products and implementing targeted promotional initiatives. The goal is to bring more Asean investment opportunities to more people as well as enhance liquidity among members of the collaboration.

Aside from Bocker, Asean Exchanges’ CEOs are Dato’ Tajuddin Atan of Bursa Malaysia Berhad, Phan Thi Tuong Tam of Hochiminh Stock Exchange, Tran Van Dzung of Hanoi Stock Exchange, Ito Warsito of Indonesia Stock Exchange, Hans Sicat of PSE and Kesara Manchusree of the Stock Exchange of Thailand.

In May 2014, three new Asean indices with FTSE were introduced, bringing more Asean tradable opportunities for investors and enhancing liquidity among the exchanges. Other key initiatives include the “Asean Stars” and the “Invest Asean” retail roadshow to profile the companies listed on the seven exchanges in Asean to retail investors.

Through the Asean Exchanges website www.aseanexchanges.org, investors can access aggregated Asean market data and analytics, market performance of the seven Asean exchanges individually, broker research reports and FTSE/Asean Indices Weekly Report.

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Related Stories or News about Robin Williams

Robin Williams an airman, genie, nanny, but one of a kind—Obama

Flowers are placed in memory of actor/comedian Robin Williams’
Walk of Fame star in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles Monday. AP

MANILA, Philippines—President Barack Obama described Robin Williams as “one of a kind” as tributes pour in for the Oscar-winning actor and comic supernova  whose explosions of pop culture riffs and impressions dazzled audiences for decades.

“Robin  Williams  was an airman, a doctor, a genie, a nanny, a president, a professor, a bangarang Peter Pan, and everything in between. But he was one of a kind,” Obama said on Twitter after the news broke that Williams was found dead in apparent suicide at his San Francisco Bay area  home Monday (Tuesday in Manila).

In Manila, Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte said goodbye to Williams.

“Farewell, Patch. Move on to the great big blue,” Valte tweeted.

Patch Adams  is a 1998 semi-biographical  comedy-drama film  starring  Williams.

Williams was 63.

Celebrities mourn Robin Williams’ death

A person walks past the marquee of the Laugh Factory
with a message in memory of actor/comedian Robin Williams
in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles, Monday. AP

MANILA, Philippines–Celebrities took to Twitter and Instagram to express their grief over the death of Hollywood actor Robin Williams who died Monday (US time) in his California home due to “apparent suicide.”

Hollywood personalities like Taylor Swift, Anna Kendrick, Neil Patrick Harris, and Miley Cyrus tweeted that they were saddened by the death of Williams.

Actress Jessica Chastain said that Williams changed her life because of a scholarship.

Local celebrities also used social media to express their grief over the death of Williams. Anne Curtis posted a photo of Williams playing as Peter Pan on her Instagram account with the caption “”all you have to do is think one happy thought, and you’ll fly like me” -Peter Pan RIP Robin Williams. May you continue to fly like angels in heaven or Peter Pan & Tinkerbell in Neverland. A great shock and loss in the film industry where he will be remembered for the laughter and tears he gave us with each role he portrayed. Many of my first childhood favorites starred this amazing actor. ”

#RIPRobinWilliams became the number one trending topic on Twitter in the Philippines, Tuesday morning. Movies that starred Williams like Mrs. Doubtfire, Dead Poets Society and What Dreams May Come also became trending topics.

Robin Williams’ most distinctive roles

In this film publicity image released by Twentieth Century Fox,
Teddy Roosevelt, portrayed by Robin  Williams, right, and Larry Daley,
portrayed by Ben Stiller are shown in a scene from,
“Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian.”
AP/Twentieth Century Fox

The kinetic bundle of energy that was  Robin  Williams  took on many forms during a long and versatile career. He may have been best known for his fast-talking, funnyman roles, but he mesmerized in serious ones as well — creepy ones, too — and was memorable well beyond the big screen: on television, on the comedy stage, even on Broadway.

Here are 10 of  Williams’ most distinctive roles — and the list could be much longer:

1. 1. “GOOD WILL HUNTING” (1997) — A rare but welcome serious role for  Williams, who played the stubborn yet empathetic therapist who was somehow able to help math prodigy Will Hunting (Matt Damon) figure out how to handle his life. Won a supporting actor Oscar.
2. 
   

2. 2. “MRS. DOUBTFIRE” (1991) — Who couldn’t love a bumbling dad who dressed up as a portly nanny — with a latex mask, a wig and a Scottish accent — in order to spend time with his young kids? (A sequel was in the works.)
3. 
   

3. 3. “ALADDIN” (1992) — Will it ever be possible to see a cartoon genie and not think of  Williams? Remember him shooting out of that bottle: “Ten thousand years will give you SUCH a crick in the neck!”
4. 
   

4. 4. “GOOD MORNING, VIETNAM” (1987) —  Williams’ fast-talking style was perfect for the role of a DJ on Armed Forces Radio during the Vietnam War. (First Oscar nomination.)
5. 
   

5. 5. “ONE HOUR PHOTO” (2002) — Another serious role, and it was a creepy one:  Williams  played a photo counter worker at a huge suburban store who got a little too involved in the lives of his customers when he realized one of them was having an affair.
6. 
   

6. 6. “DEAD POETS SOCIETY” (1989) — Played an unconventional poetry teacher who taught his Vermont boarding school students to stand on their desks, think on their own, and “seize the day.” (Second Oscar nomination.)
7. 
   

7. 7. “THE FISHER KING” (1991) —  Williams  played a half-mad homeless man, convinced that the Holy Grail was sitting in the Fifth Avenue abode of a billionaire. (Third Oscar nomination).
8. 
   

8. 8. “MORK & MINDY” (1978-1982) — Mork from Ork. Nanu, nanu. What more need be said? This TV series, a spinoff of “Happy Days,” is how many of us first learned of  Williams’ sublime nuttiness.
9. 
   

9. 9. “MOSCOW ON THE HUDSON” (1984) —  Williams  played a Russian — and quite credibly, too — in this film about a comically lovable circus saxophonist, Vladimir, who defects while touring New York (turning himself in at Bloomingdale’s, naturally.)
10. 
    

10. 10. “BENGAL TIGER AT THE BAGHDAD ZOO” (2011) — Appearing on Broadway,  Williams  gave an admirably thoughtful performance in the role of a tiger — actually, the ghost of a dead tiger — locked up at the Baghdad Zoo at the time of the US invasion in 2003.

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Vista Land to spend P50B on ‘Vista City’ project

Villar-led Vista Land and Landscapes Inc. has allocated at least P50 billion to develop over the next five years a master-planned central business district (CBD) occupying portions of five cities in southern Metro Manila as well as the nearby provinces of Cavite and Laguna.

Vista Land chair Manuel B. Villar said in a briefing on Saturday that the ambitious, flagship “Vista City” project would rise over a 1,500-hectare tract of land spread across the cities of Las Piñas and Muntinlupa in Metro Manila, Bacoor and Dasmariñas in Cavite and Sta. Rosa in Laguna.

“We want Vista City to be the No. 1 master-planned community in the country, outside of Makati,” Villar said. “Potential locators are very excited about this.”

The entire expanse of Vista City will be developed over the next 25 years, but Villar said the next five years alone would see big-ticket residential and commercial developments that “will provide an increase in revenues for Vista Land,” without disclosing figures.

Already, about 45,000 residential units under Vista Land’s Camella, Brittany and Crown Asia brands now stand across 500 hectares of Vista City, with plans to build vertical housing projects under Vista Residences on a 250-hectare site.

The remaining 1,000 hectares, meanwhile, will have commercial developments such as medium- and high-rise buildings for business process outsourcing (BPO) firms, shopping centers, hospitals, schools as well as sports facilities, Villar said.

The five-hectare commercial and retail hub dubbed “Evia Lifestyle Center” is expected to be completed in “a few months’ time,” Villar said, with a gross floor area (GFA) of 40,000 square meters. Its second phase, an open-air retail promenade to be called “Evia Global Village,” meanwhile, will have a GFA of 80,000 sqm. A third phase with a GFA also of 80,000 sqm is in the planning stages as well, Villar disclosed.

Also, a 250-hectare business and commerce district mainly aimed at attracting BPO companies—dubbed “Vista Hub”—will rise along the Daang Hari area. An initial 10 hectares adjacent to Evia will house eight towers for BPOs as well as commercial establishments. The BPO buildings will have a gross leasable area (GLA) of 290,000 sqm, Villar said.

Talks with potential partners for hospitals as well as schools that will establish operations within the 100-hectare “University Town” are underway, Villar said.

A hotel may also rise at Vista City, but it remains to be seen if it will be a homegrown Vista Land brand, the former senator said.

Villar said the company could jack up its capital expenditures for Vista City as well as add another 200-300 hectares if the development would receive a warm reception from potential locators.

Vista Land also plans to establish one more master-planned community within Metro Manila, Villar disclosed.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer | Issued: July 28, 2014

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