Editing White City, London (section)

==History==
{{more citations needed|section|date=July 2017}}
[[File:Franco-British Exhibition.jpg|thumb|right|Bird's eye view of part of the [[Franco-British Exhibition (1908)]]]]
[[File:Men of Kitcheners Army, stationed at White City London 24 November 1914.jpg|thumb|alt=B&W photo of men sitting on a bridge|Men of [[Kitchener's Army]], 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]].<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://archive.org/details/francobritishexh00franrich/ | title=Fibrous Plaster: The Building Material of the White City | work=[[The Illustrated Review]] | date=1908}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.thehistorypress.co.uk/articles/london-s-first-olympics-1908/ | title=London's first Olympics, 1908 | publisher=[[The History Press]]}}</ref><ref>{{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}}</ref> Apartments blocks for lower income residents were constructed in the 1930s.<ref>{{Cite book | last=Judah | first=Ben | title=This is London |publisher=Picador | year=2016 | location=[[Croydon]] |pages=107}}</ref>

===White City Stadium, BBC White City and White City Place===
[[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 [[mile]]s 385 [[yard]]s 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.<ref name=history/> In 1931, a 440-yard running track was installed for the Amateur Athletic Association Championships, held there from 1932 to 1970. It also hosted [[1966 FIFA World Cup Group 1#Uruguay vs France|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 (rodeo)|Pete Knight]], Weldon Bascom, Clark Lund, Ted Elder, and [[Vera McGinnis]]. The world's most famous rodeo bucking horse, [[Midnight (horse)|Midnight]], was brought out of retirement for one last rodeo.<ref>{{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}}</ref> The month-long rodeo was held from 9 June to 6 July with ten shows per week. [[Pathé News]] filmed some of the events.<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.britishpathe.com/asset/189502/ | title=Riding The Wind! | work=[[Pathé News]]}}</ref> The Stadium was home to the [[White City Rebels]] [[motorcycle speedway]] team, part of the inaugural [[Southern League (1929–1931)|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.<ref name=history>{{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]]}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{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}}</ref> In October 2007, BBC announced plans to sell Television Centre as part of a cost-cutting programme.<ref>{{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}}</ref> In June 2008, [[English Heritage]] announced its recommendation to list parts of Television Centre as a grade II listed building.<ref>{{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}}</ref> In July 2012, [[BBC]] sold Television Centre to a partnership consisting of [[Stanhope plc]], [[Mitsui Fudosan]]  and [[AIMCo]] for £200 million.<ref>{{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}}</ref> It was redeveloped but original features of the buildings including the "doughnut", atomic dot wall and Helios statue were retained.<ref>{{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 (magazine)|Broadcast]] | date=29 April 2014}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{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}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{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 (magazine)|Broadcast]] | date=26 January 2017}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.stanhopeplc.com/project/white-city-place/ | title=White City Place | date=16 September 2022 | publisher=[[Stanhope plc]]}}</ref><ref>{{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}}</ref>

===White City Estate===
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, White City|St Michael and St George]] (1955) on Commonwealth Avenue.

===Westfield London===
On 30 October 2008, [[Westfield London]] opened.<ref>{{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}}</ref>

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]].<ref>{{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}}</ref>