White City, London

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File:Franco-British Exhibition.jpg]]

File:Men of Kitcheners Army, stationed at White City London 24 November 1914.jpg, stationed at White City, London, 24 November 1914]]

The area now called White City was level arable farmland until 1908, when it was used as the site of the Franco-British Exhibition and the 1908 Summer Olympics. In 1909 the exhibition site hosted the Imperial International Exhibition and in 1910, the Japan–British Exhibition. The final two exhibitions to be held there were the Latin-British Exhibition (1912) and the Anglo-American Exposition (1914), which was brought to a premature end by the outbreak of the First World War. During this period it was known as the Great White City because the fibrous plaster used to construct the exhibition pavilions had the appearance of white marble, and hence the name given to this part of Shepherd's Bush.{{Cite web | url=https://archive.org/details/francobritishexh00franrich/ | title=Fibrous Plaster: The Building Material of the White City | work=The Illustrated Review | date=1908}}{{Cite web | url=https://www.thehistorypress.co.uk/articles/london-s-first-olympics-1908/ | title=London's first Olympics, 1908 | publisher=The History Press}}{{Cite news | first=Iona | last=McLaren | url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/theatre/what-to-see/londons-greatest-showman-forgotten-impresario-behind-white-city/ | title=London's greatest showman: The forgotten impresario behind White City | work=The Daily Telegraph | date=17 April 2021}} Apartments blocks for lower income residents were constructed in the 1930s.{{Cite book | last=Judah | first=Ben | title=This is London |publisher=Picador | year=2016 | location=Croydon |pages=107}}

White City Stadium, in the northern section of the district, also known as the Great Stadium and seating 66,000, was officially opened by King Edward VII on 27 April 1908 for the 1908 Summer Olympics. The starting point of the marathon race at the 1908 Summer Olympics was at Windsor Castle creating a distance of {{cvt|42.195|km}} or 26 miles 385 yards to the finishing line at White City stadium. In 1921, this was adopted as the standard distance for marathon races; previously the distance varied slightly. After the Olympics, the stadium continued to be used for athletics until 1914, and, in 1927, it was turned into a greyhound racing track, although it was also used for short periods by Queens Park Rangers football club, and for other sports. In 1931, a 440-yard running track was installed for the Amateur Athletic Association Championships, held there from 1932 to 1970. It also hosted the match between Uruguay and France during the 1966 FIFA World Cup.

In 1934, the American rodeo promoter Tex Austin staged the World's Championship Rodeo at White City Stadium. Champion cowboys and cowgirls from Canada and the United States participated, including Pete Knight, Weldon Bascom, Clark Lund, Ted Elder, and Vera McGinnis. The world's most famous rodeo bucking horse, Midnight, was brought out of retirement for one last rodeo.{{Cite news | url=https://www.cowboycountrymagazine.com/2010/10/midnight/ | title=Midnight | work=Canadian Cowboy Country Magazine | first=Terri | last=Mason | date=8 October 2010}} The month-long rodeo was held from 9 June to 6 July with ten shows per week. Pathé News filmed some of the events.{{Cite news | url=https://www.britishpathe.com/asset/189502/ | title=Riding The Wind! | work=Pathé News}} The Stadium was home to the White City Rebels motorcycle speedway team, part of the inaugural British League in 1929 and from 1976 to 1978. Speedway was run first in 1928 and occasional meetings were run from 1953 to 1958, in 1961 and from 1979 to 1983. The stadium was demolished starting in late 1984 to make way for the BBC White City building.{{Cite press release | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2004/05_may/11/mv_history.pdf | title=History of the White City Site | publisher=BBC}} The athletes of the 1908 Summer Olympics are commemorated with a list inscribed on the side of the BBC Broadcast Centre Building, and the athletics finish line is marked in the paving outside the building.

In 1960, BBC Television Centre was built near the former site of the White City Stadium. It was damaged by the Real IRA in the 2001 BBC bombing. The bomb went off on Wood Lane, in front of the Television Centre news building.{{cite news | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1200999.stm | title=Bomb blast outside BBC | work=BBC News | date=4 March 2001}} In October 2007, BBC announced plans to sell Television Centre as part of a cost-cutting programme.{{cite news | url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1566007/BBC-television-centre-may-be-sold-for-300m.html | title=BBC television centre may be sold for £300m | work=The Daily Telegraph | date=15 October 2007 | location=London |first1=Neil | last1=Midgley | first2=Laura | last2=Clout |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013163831/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/10/13/nbbc113.xml | archive-date=13 October 2007 |url-status=live}} In June 2008, English Heritage announced its recommendation to list parts of Television Centre as a grade II listed building.{{cite news |url=https://www.shepherdsbushw12.com/#!pages/shared:common:bbc001 |title=Television Centre Should Be Listed, Says English Heritage | work=shepherdsbushw12 | date=30 June 2008}} In July 2012, BBC sold Television Centre to a partnership consisting of Stanhope plc, Mitsui Fudosan and AIMCo for £200 million.{{cite press release | url=https://www.bbc.com/mediacentre/statements/tvc-sale-completion | title=BBC, Stanhope Plc and Mitsui Fudosan complete sale of Television Centre | publisher=BBC | date=20 July 2012}} It was redeveloped but original features of the buildings including the "doughnut", atomic dot wall and Helios statue were retained.{{cite news | url=https://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/new-tvc-plans-include-rooftop-pool/5071107.article | title=New TVC plans include rooftop pool | first=George | last=Bevir | work=Broadcast | date=29 April 2014}}

The redeveloped Television Centre was opened to the public and will offer entertainment and leisure facilities, including a new branch of members' club Soho House, offices aimed at the creative sector and approximately 1,000 new homes, together with pedestrian access through the site providing connectivity with the local area, including Hammersmith Park.{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/apr/29/bbc-television-centre-redevelopment-soho-house | title=BBC Television Centre redevelopment to include branch of Soho House | first=John | last=Reynolds | work=The Guardian | date=29 April 2014}} BBC Studioworks (formerly BBC S&PP) moved back to Television Centre in 2017 to operate Studios 1, 2 and 3. BBC Worldwide moved into office space in the Stage 6 building following extensive refurbishment in 2015.{{cite news | url=https://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/the-return-of-television-centre/5114176.article | title=The return of Television Centre | first=George | last=Bevir | work=Broadcast | date=26 January 2017}}

Landowners in the area, including White City Living by St James, Westfield London, Stanhope and Imperial College London are in the process of redeveloping the site into White City Place, which will provide 5,000+ new homes, 2 million square feet of commercial office space, 30 acres of public space, and 19,000 jobs.{{Cite web | url=https://www.stanhopeplc.com/project/white-city-place/ | title=White City Place | date=16 September 2022 | publisher=Stanhope plc}}{{Cite news | url=https://www.mansionglobal.com/articles/after-residential-makeover-london-s-white-city-soars-98299 | title=After Residential Makeover, London's White City Soars | first=LIZ | last=LUCKING | publisher=Dow Jones & Company | date=May 28, 2018}}

To house the growing population of Shepherd's Bush, a five-storey housing estate was built in the late 1930s and after World War II, which also took the name of the White City. Streets were named after countries that had featured in the exhibitions.

The estate is served by an Anglican church, St Michael and St George (1955) on Commonwealth Avenue.

On 30 October 2008, Westfield London opened.{{cite news | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7699209.stm |title=Enormous shopping complex opens | work=BBC News | date=30 October 2008}}

In July 2015, terrorists tried to blow up the Westfield London but they were stopped by police. They wanted the bombing to be around the same day as the 10th anniversary of the 7 July 2005 London bombings.{{Cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/dec/29/couple-guilty-july-7-anniversary-bomb-plot-london | title=Couple found guilty of 7/7 anniversary London bomb plot | first=Owen | last=Bowcott| work=The Guardian | date=29 December 2015}}

Two stations were built to serve the centre close to the sites of closed former London Underground stations:

• Wood Lane on the Circle line and the Hammersmith & City line, located to provide a walking distance connection with the Central line station at White City.
• Shepherd's Bush on the West London line, to the east of the site adjacent to the Holland Park roundabout and served by London Overground trains. It is also a short walking distance from Shepherd's Bush tube station served by the Central line.

File:Westway Looking east.jpg, looking east]]

Imperial College London purchased the BBC Woodlands site for 28 million pounds in 2009 and demolished it the following year. Sections of this second major campus started opening in most notably an "innovation hub" for the college, including research facilities and commercialisation space, as well as postgraduate accommodation.{{cite news | url=https://www.ft.com/content/b6317348-1c96-11e4-98d8-00144feabdc0 | title=Imperial unveils details of £3bn campus extension | first=Claer | last=Barrett | work=Financial Times | date=5 August 2014 | url-access=subscription}} The chemistry department moved much of its research to the new Molecular Sciences Research Hub on the campus in 2018,{{Cite news |url=https://felixonline.co.uk/articles/2018-11-30-white-city-woes | title=White City Woes | last=Djaba | first=Andy | work=Felix | date=30 November 2018}} with further departments and industry partners moving to the campus and surrounding area over the coming years.{{Cite news | url=https://www.standard.co.uk/business/novartis-joins-rush-of-science-companies-moving-to-white-city-a4002746.html | title=Novartis joins rush of science companies moving to White City | work=The Evening Standard | date=28 November 2018}} The campus is also home to the Invention Rooms, a college hackerspace and community outreach centre.{{Cite news | url=https://felixonline.co.uk/articles/2017-11-03-college-reaches-out-to-white-city-community-with-invention-rooms | title=College reaches out to White City community with Invention Rooms | last=Fyles | first=Fred S. | work=Felix | date=3 November 2017}}

Schools in the area include Ark Burlington Danes Academy and Phoenix Academy

• Wormwood Scrubs
• Notting Hill
• Kensal Green
• Bayswater
• Harlesden
• North Kensington
• Acton
• West Kensington
• Shepherd's Bush

• East Acton
• Goldhawk Road
• Latimer Road
• Shepherd's Bush Market
• Shepherd's Bush
• White City
• Wood Lane

• Shepherd's Bush

• Daisy WaughDebrett's Peerage & Baronetage 2008, p. 1094

• Pete Townshend, a former resident of Shepherd's Bush, released a solo album entitled White City: A Novel in November 1985 on Atco. The title refers to a story which accompanies the album and which takes place in the London area of White City. A related film was also produced.{{Cite web|url=https://ultimateclassicrock.com/pete-townshend-white-city-a-novel/|title=Pete Townshend Blended Music and Film on 'White City: A Novel'|website=Ultimate Classic Rock|date=30 November 2015 }}
• North of the Westfield shopping centre itself, the grade II listed Dimco Buildings (1898), now refurbished as a bus depot{{cite web|url=http://www.lbhf.gov.uk/Directory/News_Archive/Press_releases/110602_Bus_station_boost.asp|title=Bus Station Boost|author=London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham|access-date=27 December 2009}}{{cite web|url=http://nnet-server.com/server/common/sbbus03.htm|title=A Piece of White City History is Brought Back to Life|author=Yasmine Estaphanos|access-date=27 December 2009}} were used as the location for the 'Acme Factory' in the 1988 film Who Framed Roger Rabbit.{{cite web|url=http://www.movie-locations.com/movies/w/whoframed.html|title=Who Framed Roger Rabbit filming locations|author=The Worldwide Guide to Movie Locations|access-date=2 October 2007}}
• The Bill Slider Novels of Cynthia Harrod-Eagles are set in Shepherd's Bush and the first title, Orchestrated Death, begins with a body found in a White City flat.
• Some parts of Nuns on the Run are filmed here; the BBC White City building, Wood Lane and the Central Line.{{cite web | url=https://railwaymoviedatabase.com/nuns-on-the-run/ | title=NUNS ON THE RUN - British Railway Movie Database | date=12 August 2020 }}

• History of Shepherd's Bush

Image:BBC Television Centre.JPG|BBC Television Centre

Image:BBC New Media Village04.jpg|The BBC Media Village, on the site of the Olympic Stadium

Image:Shepherdsbushbbc.jpg|BBC TV centre, seen from Shepherd's Bush Market tube station

Image:White city tube station.jpg|White City tube station

Image:White City Stadium 1908.jpg|The White City Stadium in 1908

Image:Dorando Pietri 1908.jpg|The 1908 Olympic marathon

Image:Japan-British-Exhibition-1910-Guidebook.png|The Japan-British Exhibition of 1910

Image:Entrance place and passage, White City North Campus.jpg|Imperial College London campus

{{Reflist}}

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• [https://www.westfield.com/united-kingdom/london Official Site of Westfield London]
• [http://www.alwaystouchout.com/project/24 Details of new transport infrastructure]

{{LB Hammersmith & Fulham}}

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Category:Areas of London

Category:Buildings and structures in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham

Category:Districts of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham

Category:History of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham

Category:World's fair sites in England