Leeds City Centre

infobox UK place
country = England
official_name = Leeds City Centre
latitude= 53.7998
longitude= -1.5482
population=
metropolitan_borough= City of Leeds
metropolitan_county= West Yorkshire
region= Yorkshire and the Humber
constituency_westminster= Leeds Central,
constituency_westminster1=
post_town= LEEDS
postcode_area= LS
postcode_district = LS1, LS2, LS10, LS11
dial_code= 0113
os_grid_reference= SE297338
london_distance=
static_

static_image_caption=Leeds City Centre looking South from The Headrow.

Leeds city centre is the business and commercial centre of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is also the administrative centre of the City of Leeds metropolitan district, an area which includes ten towns and many villages, in addition to the Leeds urban area. It is within the Leeds Central parliamentary constituency, represented by Hilary Benn as MP since a by-election in 1999.

While the city centre has no formal definition, it may be taken as roughly bounded by the Leeds Inner Ring Road on the north. Many people in the city say it stretches from the Library Pub in the North to Holbeck in the South and from the Casinos on Kirkstall Road in the West to Lincoln Green in the East. It is one of the largest city centres in the UK.

The term Central Leeds is often used to describe Leeds City Centre, although it refers to a wider area usually defined by the area within the Inner Ring Road, covering areas such as Holbeck and Hunslet.Fact|date=July 2008

Leeds city centre can be separated roughly into five areas or quarters.

The Civic Quarter

The Civic Quarter is the area at the north of the city centre, roughly north of the Headrow. It is home to the Leeds Magistrates and Crown Courts. Leeds Town Hall is a prominent landmark which was completed in 1858 and opened by Queen Victoria. The City Library and City Gallery are next door. Park Square is also found here. The city's largest hospital, the Leeds General Infirmary, is also located here and was first opened in 1869.

Behind Leeds Town Hall is Millennium Square and Leeds Civic Hall, two other prominent Leeds landmarks. Millennium Square was Leeds' flagship project to mark the year 2000 and hosts regular concerts by bands including the Kaiser Chiefs, HARD-Fi, Fall Out Boy and Embrace. Leeds Civic Hall was opened in 1933 by King George V and is home to the Lord Mayor's Room and the council chambers.

Because of its close proximity to the courts, many barristers' chambers and solicitors' offices are found here. The architecture in the civic quarter is predominantly Victorian to match the civic buildings. The Civic Quarter also lies in close proximity to the universities of Leeds Metropolitan University, University of Leeds and other academic institutions such as Park Lane College, Leeds College of Art & Design and Leeds College of Technology.

The Shopping Quarter

The Shopping Quarter is the area which extends south from the Headrow to Boar Lane. Many of city's largest shops are found here. Like any major city the shopping district is home to both major international chains, including Marks & Spencer (founded in 1894 on a small stall at the city's market), and independent shops. The Corn Exchange was home to many of these independent shops, however in 2007, the owners of the building evicted most of them.

Most streets in the Shopping Quarter are connected to Briggate. It is one of many of the main shopping streets and is also home to several national and international food chains, like McDonald's, Burger King and Pizza Hut, and several international shopping chains, including Borders and Zara.

Department stores in Leeds which have historically included Lewis's, which became Allders in 1996 and latterly closed in 2005, Schofields which was taken over by House of Fraser in 1988 and closed in 1996, the Co-op which closed in the mid 1990s, Littlewoods which closed in the late 1990s and is now occupied by Zara and H&M, C&A which closed in 2001 and is currently occupied by Next Clearance (until demolition for construction of the Trinity Quarter) and Marshall & Snelgrove which became part of Debenhams and closed in the 1970s and lies of the site of Lloyds TSB on Park Row have disappeared but currently department stores include Debenhams (historically known as Matthias Robinson), Harvey Nichols (which when opened in 1996 became the first branch outside of London), Marks and Spencer, Bhs and House of Fraser (formerly a Woolworths, it temporarily became premises for Schofields and latterly became Rackhams before becoming House of Fraser in 1996).

Off Briggate are several of Leeds' famous shopping arcades, such as the Thornton Arcade and the Victoria Quarter. Briggate was fully pedestrianised in 1996 and connected the two previously pedestrian areas either side of it. Other shopping attractions include the Corn Exchange, Leeds Kirkgate Market, Granary Wharfe, Leeds Shopping Plaza, Headrow Shopping Centre, [http://www.thelightleeds.co.uk The Light] , the St Johns Centre, the Merrion Centre Leeds and Crown Point Retail park which lies half a mile away from the retail core. In addition, two further shopping centres are proposed, namely the Eastgate Quarters which is to include a John Lewis department store and Trinity Quarter.

The Cultural Quarter

The Cultural Quarter is situated in the east of the city centre. Landmarks here include the BBC building, which moved from Woodhouse Lane just north of the city centre in August 2004, the West Yorkshire Playhouse, which opened in March 1990, and the Leeds College of Music, which moved to its current location in 1997.

The Cultural Quarter is also where the Royal Armouries Museum (opened in 1996 when the collection was transferred north from its previous location, the Tower of London) can be found, although it is more in the south of the city centre than it is the east. The building, designed by architect Derek Walker, was built at a cost of £42.5 million and completed in two years, and has since become one of the city's major tourist attractions.

The Financial Quarter

The Financial Quarter is bounded by Park Row to the East, Leeds Inner Ring Road to the west, The Headrow to the north and Wellington Street to the south. It is centred around the Georgian Park Square, one of the green spaces in Leeds City Centre. The City Centre Loop passes through the quarter, using City Square, Quebec Street, King Street and East Parade. Leeds Law School is located at Cloth Hall Court. Major names can be found in the financial quarter such as Norwich Union and The Bank of England.

Infirmary Street is a major bus interchange in the financial district.

Although its principal function is as a financial quarter, there are a number of restaurants and hotels. Hotel Metropole, Residence 6, Quebecs Hotel name some of the hotels. Est Est Est, Restaurant Bar and Grill, Wagamama, Pitcher and Piano, Slug and Lettuce and Loch Fyne Seafood are some of the restaurants, mainly around the East Parade and Park Row areas.

The Skyscraper Quarter

The Skyscraper Quarter is the location for much of the extensive building works currently in Leeds. It is the area south of Boar Lane. Many of the city's tallest buildings can be found here, such as Bridgewater Place, currently the tallest building in Leeds. However, Bridgewater Place could well be topped as early as 2009 by the proposed Lumiere development.

Other major high rise developments include the planned Criterion Place scheme of 160 metres, the Providence Tower element of the Green Bank residential scheme and City One both of a planned height of 120 metres, The Plaza student residential tower of about 100-110 metres, and Opal 3, of around 90 metres. The last two are examples of high rise (student housing) development outside the Skyscraper Quarter, both being situated near the Civic Quarter campus of Leeds Metropolitan University.

Leeds Lights

Each Christmas the streets of Leeds City Centre are decorated with a variety of Christmas lights. The widely publicised 'turning-on' ceremony is in early November, when a celebrity flicks the switch to illuminate the decorations at Victoria Gardens and usually attracts tens-of-thousands of people to the turning on ceremony. When Leeds Lights were first established in 1983, the switch on was held on the 4th Thursday of November, however it has since been brought forward. The illuminations are renowned as being the largest display in the United Kingdom, spanning over 13 miles of city centre streets and using over 2 million light bulbs.

Leeds is notable for designing, manufacturing and maintaining its own Christmas Light motifs. Leeds City Council is the only local authority to do this; all other displays buy in their lights. The lights are repaired and pressure cleaned annually at the Leeds Lights workshop in Seacroft throughout the year. 80,000 coloured lamps are stored at the workshop, and 2000m of coloured garland are stored in hoppers. A team of 14 works all year round producing the display. From October-January, a team of 24 works to erect the lights ready for the switch on in early November, before removing the lights after Christmas.

In recent years, commercial advertising has been permitted on some of the lights, such as The Headrow's champagne bottle lights.

The 2007 switch on took place at Victoria Gardens with entertainment starting at 7 pm.

Celebrities who turned on the Leeds Christmas lights

*2007 — Shayne Ward, Dick and Dom, Chico.
*2006 — McFly (Gaynor Faye and Jane Tomlinson also appeared)
*2005 — Rachel Stevens and the Lovebites with Nicki Chapman presenting.
*2004 — Chris Moyles and Girls Aloud
*2003 — Phill Jupitus