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About Birmingham

2.1 Birmingham is a major city, the UK's largest outside London, with an established international standing and reputation as well as being the capital of the West Midlands.

2.2 Since the 1980s the City has been revitalised through economic restructuring, estate regeneration and transformation of its environment.

2.3 With a population of just over 1 million, the Census 2011 recorded Birmingham as having a significantly younger population profile than the national average, and an ethnically diverse population. In 2011, Birmingham was recognised as the top English core city in terms of the diversity of languages spoken (Cushman & Wakefield, 2011). The latest Census also shows that there are approximately 411,000 households in the City, with an average household size of 2.6 residents.

2.4 The City is a major employment centre, drawing in workers from across the West Midlands. It is a leading European business destination with an economic output of £20bn per annum. The local economy has major strengths, particularly in business, professional and financial services; digital media; advanced manufacturing (including the automotive industry); jewellery and environmental and medical technologies. Many international companies are based in the area, including Jaguar Land Rover, Kraft, KPMG, Deutsche Bank and GKN.

2.5 The local economy is supported by five universities and six major colleges. They provide world class learning environments, reflecting recent and ongoing investment programmes, supporting over 73,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students.

The Library of Birmingham

2.6 The City is a centre for culture, sports, leisure and shopping. It benefits from world class venues for everything from arts to conferencing, with over 30 million people visiting a year. Many of these attractions are in the City Centre, but there are also others, such as Edgbaston Cricket Ground and Sutton Park. Birmingham's sports teams and facilities regularly put it in the national and international spotlight.

2.7 There is a network of over 70 local centres across the City, with the largest being Sutton Coldfield. These centres help to meet a range of shopping needs, and act as a focus for local life and successful communities. Some centres specialise in different services, including the independent retail shops in Moseley and restaurants in the 'Balti Triangle' in the Sparkhill and Ladypool Road Centres.

2.8 In 2012, Birmingham was ranked as the most attractive UK regional City for quality of life.

2.9 Birmingham's City Centre is a major business and tourist destination. It is an international economic hub, benefiting from a diverse mix of retail, cultural, recreation and leisure uses. It is the UK's largest financial centre outside of London, with a large number of regional and national headquarters.

2.10 The City Centre attracts people to the City with a number of visitor destinations including the Library of Birmingham, the Bullring shopping centre, the Mailbox, the International Convention Centre (ICC), Symphony Hall and the Barclaycard Arena. The Centre benefits from a successful network of public squares, spaces and streets.

2.11 Birmingham is one of the most connected cities in the UK. There are three main railway stations (New Street, Moor Street and Snow Hill), located in the City Centre with direct services to cities across England, Scotland and Wales. Birmingham Airport, adjacent to the City boundary, operates routes worldwide. The City has excellent links with the national motorway network.

2.12 The City is also served by an extensive road network, linking the surrounding areas into the City Centre. There is a network of local bus and suburban rail services and a Metro line. There are cycling and walking routes, including the National Cycle Network and the canal network.

2.13 The built environment of Birmingham is mainly as a result of development in the 18th, 19th and 20th Century. The historic character of the City can still be seen today, with nationally renowned assets in the Jewellery Quarter and Bournville. The historic parts of the City Centre, including characteristic Victorian buildings and St Martins Church, are complemented by a number of landmark buildings, including the silver disc Selfridges building on the Bullring Shopping Centre and the Library of Birmingham.

2.14 The City Centre is surrounded by many pleasant and desirable leafy suburbs each with its own character and identity. This includes Edgbaston, Sutton Coldfield, Moseley and Harborne. Other residential areas have been subject to improvements, including successful investment in Castle Vale and Attwood Green.

2.15 Birmingham currently has 13 Scheduled Ancient Monuments,almost 1,500 Listed Buildings, 30 Conservation Areas, 15 Historic Parks and Gardens and over 400 Locally Listed Buildings - all of which are unique heritage assets. The City's Historic Environment Record is continuously being updated and developed to include all aspects of the City's historic environment including nondesignated heritage assets.

2.16 The City is one of Britain's greenest with more than one fifth of its area consisting of parks, nature reserves, allotments, golf courses and playing fields, many of which are linked by rivers, watercourses and a significant number of canals. Some of these assets are of national significance, including Sutton Park. There are also a number of Local Nature Reserves and sites identified for their nature conservation value and the City forms part of the Birmingham and Black Country Nature Improvement Area.

The Cube

2.17 Birmingham is at the centre of the West Midlands region and has important relationships with surroundings areas. There are significant amounts of incommuting to Birmingham, particularly from South East Staffordshire, South Warwickshire, Solihull and North Worcestershire and net migration from Birmingham to these areas. There are also important connections to neighbouring communities, regeneration programmes and environmental networks in the Black Country, North Solihull and Bromsgrove. The City collaborates with these areas through partnership arrangements, including the Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP).

Challenges

2.18 The next 20 years are going to be amongst the most important for Birmingham. The progress that has been made has transformed the reputation of Birmingham, but if the City is to achieve its ambitions and prosper it will need to take a positive, proactive and plan-led approach to address the challenges that the coming years will pose:

• The City will need to play its part in reducing the impact of climate change and be prepared to adapt to its consequences so it can continue to prosper socially, environmentally and economically. This will require new approaches to development.
• By 2031, Birmingham's population is expected to grow by 150,000. It will be important that this growth is supported by high quality and affordable homes that integrate with communities, help reduce overcrowding and provide access to services and jobs.
• For a densely built up area like Birmingham there are significant challenges in identifying appropriate sites to accommodate and deliver the long term levels of growth needed within the existing built up area. This will require joint working with partners in adjacent areas to address where housing and employment is best located.
• The recent recession and resulting economic conditions have re-emphasised the continuing need to strengthen and diversify Birmingham's economy. The role of existing sectors in the City will change reflecting adjustments in the wider economy.
• There are a number of disadvantaged communities in Birmingham, particularly in the inner areas of the City. This corresponds spatially with other social issues including poor health and poverty. Worklessness is a significant issue - the employment rate is below the national average. There is a need to create local jobs for local people.
• There is a need to continue to secure investment and improvements to public transport to improve access to services, jobs and address congestion. More could be done locally to take advantage of the benefits and opportunities offered by cycling and walking.
• The changing nature of the retail industry is already impacting on the vitality of a number of the centres in Birmingham. These are an important part of the local economy and need to be supported to provide services for communities.

Selfridges at the Bullring

• Birmingham needs to continue to maintain and improve the quality of its built environment (including its historic environment) to help strengthen its local distinctiveness. Its design and archaeology standards must be higher to reflect that of a major international City. Birmingham's unique heritage assets have a positive role to play in this.
• The delivery of infrastructure (including health facilities, energy, schools, public spaces and transport) will require the effective coordination of delivery partners and agencies.
• The quality of the natural environment will need to be conserved and enhanced to provide facilities for people and connected networks to support wildlife. This will include addressing flood risk and low levels of biodiversity quality in parts of the City.
• Birmingham is part of a local and global market place and competes with other areas for investment. The positive progress that has been made in securing recent investment needs to continue to help the City prosper.

Aston Hall

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