Century City is a 176 acre commercial and residential district on the West Side of Los Angeles. It is bounded by Westwood on the west, Rancho Park on the southwest, Cheviot Hills and Beverlywood on the southeast, and the city of Beverly Hills on the northeast. Its major thoroughfares are Santa Monica, Olympic, and Pico Boulevards (its northern boundary, central artery, and southern boundary, respectively), as well as Avenue of the Stars and Century Park East and West.
Century City is an important business center, and many law firms and executives--particularly those with ties to the film, television, and music industries--have offices there. Its Westfield-owned shopping mall is one of the major retail centers in Los Angeles. It is one of the original edge cities in the country, although it has always been a part of the city of Los Angeles.
Once a backlot of 20th Century Fox, which still has its headquarters just to the south, the Fox studio commissioned a master-plan development from Welton Becket Associates. The development was unveiled at a major press event on the western backlot in 1957. In 1963 the first building, Century City Gateway West, was complete. It was followed the next year by Minoru Yamasaki's Century Plaza Hotel.