Birmingham case study
SECTORS OF INDUSTRY
how urban change has created challenges
location an importance
Centre of the country-more market area- focus of more motorways than any other place
Historic centre of manufacturing → pull for migrants e.g.
Top 15 “Best Cities in Europe to do business”; 31,000 business.
£13 bn investment in infrastructure development
Range of businesses within secondary & tertiary inc. Jaguar, EON, Deutsche Bank + SME
TRANSPORT - Fast rail to London from New Street Station + international airport hub + motorways
how urban change has created opportunities
Impacts of national & international migration
1.1 million from 187 countries - “Youngest age profile of any city in Europe”
Migrant Wave #1 - rural areas → factory jobs
Migrant Wave #2 - WWII Polish & Jewish- planes in car factories
Migrant Wave #3 - post WWII Commonwealth migration e.g. India, Pakistan
Migrant Wave #4 - 2004 onwards EU eastern Europeans
m4 - south west
m42 - ring road around Birmingham
SOCIAL OPPORTUNITES
Ethnic & cultural diversity allows people to experience different religions and foods, e.g. Balti Triangle [curry], St Paul's Square [live music], Birmingham Royal Ballet, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra = culturally rich social life
5 Universities → over 65,000 students.
ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES
-Bullring shopping center = 140 shops generating
employment and income for the local economy → local
multiplier effect
-Brindley Place = leisure & office = bars, retail, offices and
entertainment facilities→ local multiplier effect-
multiplier effect - as one thing improves, it allows other things to improve too.
Environmental - “Birmingham’s Green Vision”
(local planning to improve the environment)
Canals in Birmingham have been cleaned up. The towpaths have been upgraded to encourage people to walk and cycle along the canals (environmental and social benefits)- they have tried to make good for the people who live in Birmingham.
East side City Park is a new park developed to ↑ the amount of green space. before it was a really dodgy place - taken it from that and changed it into a happy park (social benefit)
“Birmingham Connected”- Traffic has been managed by creating a park and ride scheme, encouraging the use of buses and the Birmingham Metro tramlines. = integrated transport system
primary- farming, mining, fishing. acquisition of raw materials
secondary- car making. manufacturing
tertiary- teaching, hair dressing, doctors. service industry
Quaternary- researching. new industries
social and economic
Urban decline - competition from abroad → most of Birmingham's manufacturing industry has now gone. This has led to urban decline as manufacturing buildings were left empty and became derelict.
Deprivation - people with high unemployment → parts of Birmingham experienced a spiral of social and economic decline → deprivation.
Inequalities in housing - pressures on housing - not enough good quality and affordable housing for people in the city.
Education - quality of education poor in inner city areas such as Aston.
Aston is an area of deprivation with an ethnically diverse community → children struggled to access and succeed in education.
Health - in Aston, people with poorer English language skills found it difficult to access healthcare facilities.
environmental challenges
Dereliction - derelict buildings common in inner city areas.(the state of having been abandoned and become dilapidated)
Building on greenfield sites - results in the loss of more green space → make urban sprawl worse.
Building on brownfield sites - improve a derelict site as the space is reused for a new development.
Waste disposal - a lot of household and commercial waste which creates challenges for how to manage the disposal
Atmospheric pollution - there are more vehicles on the road → leading to atmospheric pollution.
effects of urban sprawl
Demands on the rural-urban fringe around Birmingham:
Transport links - including HS2
Suburbs and Commuter settlements
Edge of Town developments - leisure & retail e.g. NEC
Farm building functions - workshops & start ups e.g. Shenstone
Since 2000 = 40,000+ people migrated from centre to suburbs & commuter settlements;
200,000 daily commutes into Birmingham from places such as Lichfield, Sutton Coldfield, Sandwell and Dudley
→↑ congestion with economic, environmental and social impacts