West End of London: Difference between revisions

{{shortShort description|Area of Central London, England}}

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[[File:Open Happiness Piccadilly Circus Blue-Pink Hour 120917-1126-jikatu.jpg|thumb|350px|right|[[Piccadilly Circus]], the heart of the West End, in September 2012]]

The '''FuardaiWest End of London''' (commonly referred to as '''the West End''') is a district of [[Central London]], London, England, west of the [[City of London]] and north of the [[River Thames]], in which many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government buildings and entertainment venues, including [[West End theatre]]s, are concentrated.

While the [[City of London]] is the main business and financial district in London, the West End is the main commercial and entertainment centre of the city. It is the largest [[central business district]] in the United Kingdom, comparable to [[Midtown Manhattan]] in [[New York City]], the [[Causeway8th Bayarrondissement of Paris|8th arrondissement]] in [[Hong KongParis]], [[ShibuyaCauseway Bay]] in [[TokyoHong Kong]], or the [[8th arrondissement of Paris|8th arrondissementShibuya]] in [[ParisTokyo]]. It is one of the most expensive locations in the world in which to rent commercial and office space.

[[File:LondonOxford ,Street Kodachrome(geograph by Chalmers Butterfield4949395).jpg|thumb|250px|[[ShaftesburyOxford Street, one of Avenue]]the frommain [[PiccadillyWest Circus]]End inshopping 1949areas]]

[[Medieval]] [[London]] comprised two adjacent cities – the [[City of London]] in the east, and the [[City of Westminster]] in the west.

Lying to the west of the historic [[Roman BritainLondinium|Roman]] and medieval City of London, the West End was long favoured by the rich elite as a place of residence because it was usually upwind of the smoke drifting from the crowded City.<ref>Robert O. Bucholz and Joseph P. Ward: ''London: A Social and Cultural History, 1550–1750''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2012, p. 333</ref> It was close to the royal seat of power at the [[Palace of Westminster]] (now home to [[Parliamentparliament]]), and is largely contained within the City of Westminster (one of the 32 [[London borough]]s).

DevelopedFollowing initial development by [[Henry Jermyn, 1st Earl of St Albans]] in the 1660s, during the late 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, it was built as a series of palaces, expensive town houses, fashionable shops and places of entertainment. The areas closest to the City around [[Holborn]], [[Seven Dials, London|Seven Dials]], and [[Covent Garden]] contained poorer communities that were cleared and redeveloped in the 19th century.

{{AlsoSee also|Cities of London and Westminster (UK Parliament constituency)}}

As the West End is a term used colloquially by Londoners and is not an official geographical or municipal definition, its exact constituent parts are up for debate. [[Westminster City Council]]'s 2005 report ''Vision for the West End'' included the following areas in its definition: [[Covent Garden]], [[Soho]], [[Chinatown, London|Chinatown]], [[Leicester Square]], the shopping streets of [[Oxford Street]], [[Regent Street]] and [[Bond Street]], the area encompassing [[Trafalgar Square]], the [[Strand, London|Strand]] and [[Aldwych]], and the district known as [[West End theatre#Theatreland|Theatreland]]. The [[Edgware Road]] to the north-west and the [[Victoria Embankment]] to the south-east were also covered by the document but were treated as "adjacent areas" to the West End.<ref>{{citation|url=http://www3.westminster.gov.uk/CSU/Cabinet%20Member%20Decisions/Economic_Development_and_Transport%202003-08/2005/49%20-%20Vision%20for%20the%20West%20End/West%20End%20Vision%20final%20report%20Oct05.pdf|title=Vision for the West End|date=October 2005|publisher=Westminster City Council|accessdateaccess-date=14 December 2016|archive-date=20 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220103651/http://www3.westminster.gov.uk/CSU/Cabinet%20Member%20Decisions/Economic_Development_and_Transport%202003-08/2005/49%20-%20Vision%20for%20the%20West%20End/West%20End%20Vision%20final%20report%20Oct05.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

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[[File:Marble.arch.london.arp.jpg|thumb|250px|[[Marble Arch]]]]

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