The central area of the city of Bristol, South West England, is the area south of the central ring road and north of the Floating Harbour, bordered north by St Pauls and Easton, east by Temple Meads and Redcliffe , and west by Clifton and Cannon's Marsh .

Broadmead

Bristol does not have a dense or organised Central Business District, with shops and offices spread out from Clifton to Temple Meads. Broadmead, however, is the main "high street" shopping district. The current streets and shops were built in the 1950s after bombing in World War II had damaged much of medieval Broadmead. To the east of Broadmead, beside the harbour, is Castle Park, also created by bombing of the original buildings.

Like most 1950s buildings in Britain, affordable but architecturally uninteresting utilitarian buildings form the bulk of the Broadmead area. In the 1980s some of these were demolished to make way for the Galleries shopping centre, which runs parallel to the main shopping road on a three level covered street.

As of 2004 Broadmead is undergoing another regeneration, with the shopping area being extended over the central ring road. A nearby multi-story car park and utilitarian tower block, Tollgate House, are also due to be demolished.

Harbourside

Just south of Broadmead the city centre survived the second world war with much less damage, though post-war planners widened St Augustine's Parade by covering the branch of the harbour that ran through it, making way for the ring road. These planning decisions are beginning to be reversed, for example, the ring road is no longer circular, as the stretch through Queen's Square has been closed and returned to its use as a public park. St Augustine's Parade is also becoming less car orientated, as roads have been narrowed, turned into Bus lanes or closed altogether. An "urban beach" has also been created here, using fountains to imitate waves.

The harbourside in the city centre has also been regenerated in the 1990s and 2000s, with the refurbushment of warehouses as bars, resturants, the Watershed media centre and Arnolfini art gallery, as well as the creation of At-Bristol.