Birmingham Case Study

Question 1

Location

Answer 1

Birmingham is located centrally in England, in the Midlands. It is the UK’s second-largest city and has strong connections with other countries in the world as a result of its ethnic diversity.

Question 2

Importance within UK

Answer 2

• Direct rail links to many UK cities. Used by over 34 million people in 2014.
• New Street station is the busiest UK station outside of London.
• Birmingham is one of the ‘greenest’ UK cities. It has over 8,000 acres of parks and open space.
• Excellent job opportunities, including 200 law firms, 50 major property services and a range of other major companies such as Atkins, BBC and Jaguar Landrover.
• Birmingham Hippodrome is the busiest theatre in the UK with over 520,000 visitors each year.

Question 3

Importance international

Answer 3

• The European Cities Monitor rated Birmingham among the top 15 best cities in Europe in 2009.
• £13 billion invested in infrastructure development over the next decade. The aim is to be a city of global importance.
• Birmingham Airport had over 9 million customers in 2014. It has been extended to connect to more places in Africa, South America, China and the USA.
• Provides space to more than 300 companies from outside of the UK.

Question 4

Impacts of national and international migration

Answer 4

. Historically, people migrated to Birmingham from range of cultures.
. E.g. Jewish people and Polish refugees during WW2.
. Currently lot of refugees from places conflict.
. E.g. Sudan, Iraq and Afghanistan.
. 2012-2013 - 12,000 international migrants and 40,800 UK migrants.
. Migration gives Birmingham a rich cultural heritage and development of a range of successful multi-cultural communities.
. Wide range of ethnic restaurants and cultural events.
. Migrants bring a range of skills, contributing to areas such as the Jewellery Quarter and the Polish Catholic Centre in Digbeth.
. Migration is successful.

Question 5

Urban Change and opportunities: Social + Economic Opportunities

Answer 5

• Five universities and over 50,000 students, one of the youngest populations in Europe.
• Largest number of businesses outside of London, wide range of job opportunities including retail, manufacturing and research (Birmingham University BioHub, a biomedical research centre).
• Over 28,000 job vacancies in Birmingham listed on major websites such as Indeed.com.
• Excellent transport links - New Street Station and Birmingham Airport, as well as road links to the rest of the country with a range of motorways including the M5, M6 M40 and M42. • • • There is also an integrated bus, metro and rail system run by Network West Midlands that is undergoing continued development.
• Birmingham Hippodrome – the most visited theatre in the UK.
• City centre museum and art gallery have over 2,000 exhibits.
• Bullring shopping centre, over 160 shops and an average of 750,000 visitors each week.
• Home to the most Michelin starred restaurants outside of London.

Question 6

Urban change and opportunities: Environmental – Urban Greening

Answer 6

Birmingham City Council aim to further increase the amount of green space in the city with a plan called Birmingham’s Green Vision. The main aims are to make the city more attractive, encourage business, and improve health. So far, this includes:
• The opening of Eastside City Park, a new six acre park, in 2013.
• Creating blue corridors alongside rivers and canals (for example, as part of the Longbridge redevelopment scheme).
• Encouraging walking and cycling. This is supported by organisations such as Network West Midlands who provide detailed walking and cycling information for the city.
• Developing green roofs and walls to increase biodiversity, reduce the amount of heat absorbed, and to minimise water run-off.

Question 7

Urban Change and Challenges: Social and Economic

Answer 7

• Many areas in Birmingham suffer with deprivation, and Birmingham is measured as the 6th most deprived area in the country.
• A major cause was industrial decline from the 1970’s when many businesses left the city, often to cut costs by moving to other countries where labour was cheaper.
• This created a ‘spiral of decline’ that contributed to urban deprivation in Birmingham.

Question 8

Urban deprivation

Answer 8

This is when an area has a quality of life below the acceptable standard.

Question 9

Spiral of decline

Answer 9

. People, especially the young, leave for more opportunities in urban ares.
. Employers find it difficult to recruit labour.
. Less investment happens in the area and businesses shut.
. Less money, less employment and fewer people leads to shops and services declining.
. People notice the decline and the lower quality of life.

Question 10

Inequalities in housing

Answer 10

. Deprived areas tend to have poorer quality housing than other areas.
. Areas often located where industrial decline has occurred.
. Many boarded up factories and shops.
. Increase in crime and vandalism.
. Loss of employment linked to industrial decline.
. People can’t afford to buy a new home or to improve their current home.
. Around 10,000 people in B are now homeless.

Question 11

Inequalities in education, health and employment

Answer 11

. Vary across Birmingham.
. Health differs for a range of reasons.
. People living closer to the centre suffer from greater air and noise pollution.
. Smoking and drinking common in deprived areas.
People on higher incomes may have better access to facilities such as gyms.

Question 12

Education stats

Answer 12

o Education (5 GCSEs A*-C) – Sutton Four Oaks, 87%. Ladywood, 43%.
o Average life expectancy – Sutton Four Oaks, 86. Winson Green, 75.
o Unemployment – Sutton Four Oaks, 21.7%. Lozells, 41.4%.

Question 13

Urban change and challenges: environmental

Answer 13

• Derelict buildings e.g. closed factories and shops = poorer environmental conditions.
. vandalised and covered in graffiti.
• Increasing population = increasing demand for housing.
. 2015 estimated Birmingham needed 89,000 new houses, but space for only 51,000 new houses.
• Building houses done on greenfield sites or brownfield sites.

Question 14

Waste disposal

Answer 14

. Challenge as population increases. In
. 2015, only 30% of Birmingham’s waste was recycled.
. Birmingham City Council aim to increase this to 40% by 2026 with house waster recycling centre and energy recovery.

Question 15

Household waste recycling centres

Answer 15

. Collection points for recyclable materials across Birmingham.
. Waste is taken to one of five new recycling centres.
. Over 52,000 tonnes of rubbish was recycled or composted in 2014.

Question 16

Energy recovery

Answer 16

. New Energy Recovery Facility (ERF) that takes 350,000 tonnes of rubbish per year and converts it into electricity.
.Problem is waste is burned, releasing carbon dioxide.

Question 17

Rural-urban fringe

Answer 17

Area on the edge of an urban area. Rural and urban land uses are often mixed. Often at risk of urban sprawl.
• Wanted for a range of reasons inc. new retail parks, new suburbs (residential areas on the outer part of a city), leisure facilities (such as golf courses) and industrial estates.
• Continued demand for new housing in Halesowen west of B has led to conflict over the use of many parts of the rural-urban fringe. 2017, ongoing debate whether to build on some of this land. So far, the council have stopped the plans, but this may change as population increases.

Question 18

Greenfield sites

Answer 18

. Not been built upon before e.g. farmland and countryside.
. Cheaper than brownfield.
. Contributes to urban sprawl and problems like traffic congestion.

Question 19

Brownfield sites

Answer 19

. Have built on before e.g. for industry - no longer in use.
. Can be redeveloped to provide new housing and make a place nicer.
.Usually expensive as the old buildings need to be removed first.
. May be contaminated by the previous land use.

Question 20

Urban sprawl

Answer 20

Expansion of an urban area into less populated areas.

Question 21

Commuter settlements

Answer 21

Towns around a larger city where people commute to the city to work. E.g. Dudley, Bromsgrove, Lichfield and Walsall.
• Last 10 years, approx 42,000 people have moved from the centre of B to the edge of city. Increase in population of commuter settlements. Challenges = increased traffic, air pollution and pressure on public transport as people are travelling further.
• Number of daily commuters was between 150,000 and 200,000 in 2011.

Question 22

Regeneration

Answer 22

Improving the economic, social and environmental conditions of a previously run down area. Many areas in Birmingham have suffered from industrial decline. Recent and ongoing regeneration in Birmingham includes Longbridge, Grand Central, Paradise, and Birmingham Curzon.

Question 23

Longbridge history

Answer 23

major centre for car manufacturing.

o Peak in 1965, over 25,000 people were employed there.
o From 1970’s, increased competition abroad led to the decline in many industries in B, inc car manufacturing.
o The manufacturing plant at Longbridge closed in 2005. Area became run down and many people were unemployed, therefore Longbridge was in need of regeneration.

Question 24

Longbridge Regeneration Plan

Answer 24

Regenerate the derelict Rover car plant by building over 2000 new homes and creating 1000 jobs. The plan includes:
o A technology park, including an innovation centre suited to small technology businesses.
o A £70 million new town centre with a range of major stores.
o Now hotels and leisure developments such as restaurants and cafes.
o Bourneville College, a new £66 million learning facility.
o A range of new office accommodation.
o Residential developments for a variety of age ranges.
o Large industrial and distribution centre buildings (warehouses) with easy access to the road network.

Question 25

Grand Central

Answer 25

o A new large concourse
o Better links to the surrounding area
o A nicer physical environment
o A range of new stores, including John Lewis which created 650 jobs.