6.6 Ladywood
Original Document
Ladywood is a housing area of variable quality, with some local shopping and social facilities and an environment that could benefit from significant improvement. Designed in part on the now old fashioned principles, with separate pedestrian and vehicle routes, the area falls significantly short against a number of urban design criteria. Streets and spaces are not overlooked, back gardens are exposed, leading to a perception of insecurity, there is no sense of enclosure, some of the spaces have a left-over and poorly maintained feel, and the area is inward-looking and not easy to navigate.
Yet Ladywood is very close to the city centre and adjacent to the canal and could be a very desirable place to live.
Most of the housing is Council owned and is very low density with the two to three storey housing appearing suburban and not reflective of its location close to the city centre. The residential area is interspersed with a few high-rise council towers.
The newest development has taken place on the canalside, being mainly 9-10 storey, privately owned apartments that turn their backs to the rest of the Ladywood estate and restrict access to the canal by residents of that estate.
Gradual improvement of Local Authority housing stock in Ladywood has taken place. However, this area presents a great opportunity for major transformation into a successful neighbourhood with a strong community focus. The quality of the housing can be significantly improved along with the configuration of open space. The canal frontage can then be utilised to its full potential and linkages through the area and to the core and NIA can be much improved.
A new high quality residential development of four to seven storeys is already taking place along Ryland Street. Based on perimeter blocks with landscaped courtyards, a variety of colours, material and heights.
The Icknield Port Loop area immediately to the west of Ladywood is being developed as a sustainable urban neighbourhood of mixed housing types and tenures with the canal loop as its focus. Its present disadvantage is that it is slightly isolated from the city centre as the ring road, canal and railway all form barriers. The Big City Plan creates the opportunity of investigating how those barriers can be overcome and create a number of routes through Icknield Port Loop, Ladywood and on to the city centre, effectively merging the two neighbourhoods.
Aligning housing, planning and education policy and projects within Ladywood gives us the opportunity to create a properly functioning neighbourhood.
Ladywood (Popup full image)Plain English Translation
Ladywood, please click on the picture to go to a larger version
Ladywood is very close to the main city centre, has it’s own canals and could be a very desirable place to live.
At the moment though Ladywood needs significant improvement. The quality of the houses, shops and public facilities vary significantly. The overall design is based on out of date ideas. The place is inward-looking, hard to navigate and can make people feel insecure.
The Council owns most of the housing and has been making gradual improvements. The two to three storey homes are low density, which means more people could live on this land, and they look too suburban for somewhere so close to the city centre. There are also a few high-rise council towers.
The newest development is of privately owned 9-10 storey buildings beside the canal. These apartments turn their backs on the rest of the Ladywood estate and make it harder for the people who live there to reach the canal.
We think this area presents a great opportunity to create a successful neighbourhood with a strong community focus but it will mean major change. The quality of the housing can be improved significantly, as can the way we use the open space. The canal can then be used to its full potential and we can improve the way the neighbourhood connects to the National Indoor Arena area and the core of the city centre.
Some work is already happening. A new high quality residential development of four to seven storeys is already taking place along Ryland Street. The Icknield Port Loop area immediately to the west of Ladywood is being developed into a new neighbourhood which will makes the most of the old industrial canal loop. There will be a mixture of styles of homes, some owned by the people who live in them, others rented by private landlords of housing associations. At the moment it is cut off from the city centre by the ring road, canal and railway . The Big City Plan is a chance to investigate how those barriers can be removed. This would create a number of routes through Icknield Port Loop, Ladywood and on to the city centre, effectively merging the two neighbourhoods.
So we belive that if we bring together housing, planning and education policy and projects within Ladywood we can create a neighbourhood which works well for the people who live there.