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The West End of London (more commonly referred to as simply the West End) is an area of Central London containing many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government buildings and entertainment venues (including the commercial :West End theatres). The use of the term 'West End' began in the early 19th century to describe fashionable areas to the west of Charing Cross.〔Mills, A., ''Oxford Dictionary of London Place Names'', (2001)〕 For strategic planning, the area is identified as one of two ''international centres'' in the London Plan.〔Greater London Authority, ''(The London Plan: The Sub Regions )''〕 The West End is a large area, combining the boroughs of Westminster and Camden, which had a population of 468,138 in 2014. While the City of London or the ''Square Mile'' 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 Shibuya district in Tokyo, Birmingham City Centre in Birmingham or the 8th arrondissement in Paris. It is one of the most expensive locations in the world in which to rent office space, just behind Silicon Valley's Sand Hill Road. ==Location== Lying to the west of the historic Roman and Mediaeval 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.〔Robert O. Bucholz and Joseph P. Ward: ''London: A Social and Cultural History, 1550-1750''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2012, p. 333〕 It was also close to the royal seat of power at Westminster, and is largely contained within the City of Westminster (one of the 32 London boroughs). Developed in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, it was originally 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, and Covent Garden historically contained poorer communities that were cleared and redeveloped in the 19th century. The name "West End" is a flexible term with different meanings in different contexts. It may refer to the entertainment district around Leicester Square and Covent Garden; to the shopping district centred on Oxford Street, Regent Street, and Bond Street; or, less commonly, to the whole of that part of central London (itself an area with no generally agreed boundaries) which lies to the west of the City of London. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「West End of London」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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