A city is the expression both of its region and its site. The region calls it into being; the site governs its birth. Thereafter as it glows it exploits the site to serve the region, It increasingly focuses the activities of the region on the site, thus making that site the heart of the region. In most cases it draws the region into a crucial area within the site which becomes the heart of the city. Although the pattern of landuse in the core of the city is due mainly to ecological forces within the city itself to competition for space, to specialisation in function, and to segregation of forms - nevertheless that pattern does reflect wider realities. Therefore a study of the heart of the city might properly begin with that of the general setting and local site.