Editing Cheapside (section)

==Contemporary Cheapside==
[[File:Cheapside, London.JPG|thumb|Cheapside in 2012]]

Cheapside today is a street of offices and developments of retail outlets. It can no longer be described as "the busiest thoroughfare in the world" (as in Charles Dickens, Jr.'s day) and is instead simply one of many routes connecting the [[East End of London|East End]] and the City of London with the [[West End of London|West End]].

Cheapside was extensively damaged during [[The Blitz]] in late 1940 and particularly during the [[Second Great Fire of London]]. Much of the rebuilding following these raids occurred during the 1950s and 1960s and included a number of unsympathetic contemporary attempts at recreating the centuries-old architecture that had been destroyed. In recent years many of these buildings have themselves been demolished as a programme of regeneration takes place along Cheapside from [[Paternoster Square]] to [[Poultry, London|Poultry]].

The draft Core Strategy of the City's [[Local Development Frameworks]] outlines the vision and policies for the Cheapside area, aiming to increase the amount of retail space along and near the street, and make the area a good environment for visitors and shoppers. The plan is to re-establish the street as the City's "High Street", including as a weekend shopping destination (until recently many retail units in the City were closed on Saturday and Sunday).<ref>[http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/114DE61F-E5C0-4ABE-982E-7CF262D6A907/0/CoreStrategyAppendicesPDF.pdf City of London Corporation] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110612210149/http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/114DE61F-E5C0-4ABE-982E-7CF262D6A907/0/CoreStrategyAppendicesPDF.pdf |date=12 June 2011 }} draft Core Strategy, accessed July 2010</ref><ref>[http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/Corporation/LGNL_Services/Environment_and_planning/Urban_design/Street_scene_challenge/Projects_in_the_pipeline/Cheapside+Area.htm City of London Corporation]  {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100613135838/http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/Corporation/LGNL_Services/Environment_and_planning/Urban_design/Street_scene_challenge/Projects_in_the_pipeline/Cheapside%2BArea.htm |date=13 June 2010 }} Cheapside area improvements</ref> A major retail and office development at the heart of the scheme, [[One New Change]], opened 28 October 2010.<ref name="FT">{{cite news|last=Thomas|first=Daniel|title=Retail centre gambles on Square Mile|url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/fa51f4be-e1f1-11df-a064-00144feabdc0.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/fa51f4be-e1f1-11df-a064-00144feabdc0.html |archive-date=10 December 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=29 October 2010|newspaper=Financial Times|date=27 October 2010}}</ref> It is sited on Cheapside at the intersection with New Change, immediately to the east of St Paul's Cathedral.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.onenewchange.com/|title=One new change|website=www.onenewchange.com}}</ref><ref>[http://www.incheapside.com/default.aspx?CATID=360 InCheapside] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110713024233/http://www.incheapside.com/default.aspx?CATID=360 |date=13 July 2011 }} One New Change</ref>

To address the anticipated rise in the number of shoppers as a result of the regeneration, the street itself has undergone reconstruction works to make the area more sympathetic to pedestrian traffic; the works are expected to make Cheapside the main shopping area in the City of London.

Cheapside formed part of the [[2012 Olympic Marathon Course|marathon course]] of the [[2012 Summer Olympics|2012 Olympic]] and [[2012 Summer Paralympics|Paralympic]] Games. The women's Olympic marathon took place on 5 August and the men's Olympic marathon took place on 12 August. The four Paralympic marathons were held on 9 September.<ref>[http://www.london2012.com/athletics/event/men-marathon/coursemap/ 2012 London Olympics Men's Marathon: course map] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130430135742/http://www.london2012.com/athletics/event/men-marathon/coursemap/ |date=30 April 2013 }} and [http://www.london2012.com/athletics/event/women-marathon/coursemap/ Women's Marathon: course map] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130502180801/http://www.london2012.com/athletics/event/women-marathon/coursemap/ |date=2 May 2013 }}</ref>