Commercial areas in a city are areas, districts, or neighborhoods primarily composed of commercial buildings, such as a strip malls, office parks, downtown, central business district, financial district, "Main Street", or shopping centers. Commercial activity within cities includes the buying and selling of goods and services in retail businesses, wholesale buying and selling, financial establishments, and a wide variety of uses that are broadly classified as "business." While commercial activities typically take up a relatively small amount of land, they are extremely important to a community's economy. They provide employment, facilitate the circulation of money, and often serve many other roles important to the community, such as public gathering and cultural events.
