Now as a counterbalance to London’s eastward shift, White City has been designated an “opportunity area” — allowing the 20 hectares of land at its heart, just north of Shepherd’s Bush, to be reinvented as West London’s biggest and brightest new district. It will have 5,000-plus new homes, a Harvard-style university campus and centre of academic excellence, a media village and an office complex for blue-chip businesses. White City’s ascendancy is so assured that Soho House is opening a boutique hotel there. The centre has excellent transport links with the A40 at the doorstep and walking distance to the Central Line and Elizabeth Line ("Crossrail"), opening in 2018 and walking distance to Westfield Shopping Centre.