Downtown Calgary

Downtown Calgary is a dense urban district in central Calgary, Alberta. It contains the second largest concentration of head offices in Canada, despite only being the country's fourth largest city in terms of population. The downtown is divided into several residential, commercial, corporate, and mixed-use neighbourhoods, including the Financial District (CBD), Eau Claire, Chinatown, East Village, Beltline, and the West End.

Downtown Calgary is bordered by 14th Street W. on the west, the Bow River and Prince's Island Park on the north, the Elbow River on the east and the CPR mainline tracks on the south. The neighbourhoods of the Beltline and Mission to the immediate south are often considered part of downtown, due to the high concentrations of businesses, high population densities, and occurrence of retail and nightlife opportunities, but strictly speaking they are not technically part of downtown.

The population of Calgary's downtown has grown substantially in recent years, growing by several thousand between 2011 and 2016. With the population of the five combined downtown neighbourhoods surpassing 18,000 as of 2016, Downtown Calgary now has a significantly larger population than that of other Canadian cities of similar size, such as Ottawa and Edmonton. While downtown Calgary continues to grow, the Beltline neighbourhood to the immediate south, with a population of 21,958 as of 2016, is taking up the majority of residential development in inner city Calgary.

Calgary Transit's CTrain light rail system runs down 7th Avenue S. through the middle of downtown in an east–west direction, and the ride is free on this section. The future Green Line will run underground through downtown under 2nd Street, in a north–south direction.