Europe's biggest urban shopping centre opened today in a deprived area of east London where it will act as the gateway to the 2012 Olympics.
Westfield Stratford City, which has risen from derelict wasteland in one of the poorest areas in Britain, houses over 300 shops, 70 restaurants, a 14-screen cinema, three hotels and Britain's largest casino.
Hundreds of people queued outside the £1.45 billion sterling (€1.7 billion) shopping centre before the doors even opened. The Australian owners of the centre are confident they can defy the retail gloom as the British economy stutters.
Westfield's sister site in Shepherd's Bush, west London - previously the biggest mall in Europe - opened in the depths of a recession in 2009 yet attracted 23 million visitors in its first year.
The giant Stratford site is a cornerstone of the Olympic Park and spectators arriving for next year's Games will have to walk through the shopping centre to reach the sports venues. A high-speed train will bring 25,000 Olympics spectators an hour to Stratford International station where they will be greeted by a row of shops and restaurants.
Crucially for an area with unemployment levels far above the national average, the centre has created 10,000 new jobs. Local politicians believe it is another part in the jigsaw of regeneration which they hope will create a thriving community once the Olympic flame goes out.
But the site's proximity to the Olympic park has required additional security precautions. The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG) said it will be operating checks on vehicles entering the public car park at the shopping centre until the Games end in September 2012.
