City hall

Encyclopedia : C : CI : CIT : City hall

For the 1996 film, see City Hall (film).

In small towns, the town hall may also incorporate other functions, such as a post office.

A city hall or town hall is the headquarters of a city or town's administration. The usual term in the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand is 'Town Hall' or 'guildhall' (in the case of the City of London's Guildhall), the phrase is used as the building's proper name rather than as a generic term. However, Brisbane City Hall is an example of an Australian local council that has a "city hall". Another exception is that Birmingham Town Hall is a concert hall; the building which houses the city's administration is called the Council House. Both 'town hall' and 'city hall' are used in North America, usually depending on the size of the municipality they serve.

As important governmental buildings, many city halls are known for their distinctive architecture.

The expression 'city hall' can be used by metonymy for municipal government or for government in general, as in 'You can't fight city hall.'

The expression 'town hall' has more friendly connotations, often suggesting the town meeting form of government.

Gallery of City Halls in cities and towns around the world

(sorted in alphabetical order)

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.