Historic center is called the original urban nucleus of planning and construction of an urban area, generally the one with the greatest social, economic, political and cultural attraction, which is characterized by containing the assets linked to the history of a certain city, based on the culture that gave rise to it, and in accordance with the terms of the respective declaration or by determination of the law.

When designating the Ecuadorian city of Quito as a World Cultural Heritage Site in 1978, UNESCO highlighted that it had "the best preserved and least altered historic center in all of Latin America."[1]​.

In Spain, the term old town is often used to refer to the historic center of its old urban neighborhoods.