How to change the map center in Leaflet.js

The following code initializes a leaflet map. The initialize function centers the map based on user location. How do I change the center of the map to a new position after calling the initialize function?

function initialize() {
map = L.map('map');
L.tileLayer('http://{s}.tile.cloudmade.com/BC9A493B41014CAABB98F0471D759707/997/256/{z}/{x}/{y}.png', {
    maxZoom: 18,
    attribution: 'Map data &copy; <a href="http://openstreetmap.org">OpenStreetMap</a> contributors, <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/">CC-BY-SA</a>, Imagery © <a href="http://cloudmade.com">CloudMade</a>'
}).addTo(map);

map.locate({setView: true, maxZoom: 8});    
} 

Solution 1:

For example:

map.panTo(new L.LatLng(40.737, -73.923));

Solution 2:

You can also use:

map.setView(new L.LatLng(40.737, -73.923), 8);

It just depends on what behavior you want. map.panTo() will pan to the location with zoom/pan animation, while map.setView() immediately set the new view to the desired location/zoom level.

Solution 3:

Use map.panTo(); does not do anything if the point is in the current view. Use map.setView() instead.

I had a polyline and I had to center map to a new point in polyline at every second. Check the code : GOOD: https://jsfiddle.net/nstudor/xcmdwfjk/

mymap.setView(point, 11, { animation: true });        

BAD: https://jsfiddle.net/nstudor/Lgahv905/

mymap.panTo(point);
mymap.setZoom(11);