Big City Plan Talk A Place To Talk About Birmingham’s Big City Plan

Original Document

Southside is the main arrival location into Birmingham by national and international public transport (west coast main line, rail connection to airport and coach). It includes the area south of New Street down to and including the northern end of the Wholesale Markets. It takes in key sites such as New Street Station, the Arcadian Centre, the Wholesale Markets, the Rag Market, the Ice Rink, the Hippodrome, and the existing Chinese Quarter and Gay Village, with their bars, clubs and restaurants. But at present it does not have the image, quality or excitement of big city nightlife.

Southside has some good streets including one of Birmingham’s last surviving courtyards of back to back housing, now restored and run as a fascinating museum by the National Trust.

Southside has some other good urban features. The sinuous Ringway Centre, completed in 1961, catches the eye as it curves along Smallbrook Queensway and bridges Hurst Street. The Beetham Tower (the Radisson Hotel) contributes to Southside’s skyline. Crosby’s Southside is a recent award winning development on Hurst Street. It has also helped increase the number of shops in the area. The development built on a perimeter block principle has been successful in providing good enclosure, consistent street line and adding interest and variety to the area.

With its excellent transport connections and major arrival point, about to be improved, this is the area that has the greatest potential to accommodate a major expansion of central area uses outside the core. The area offers the prospect of a vibrant district where a number of land uses could successfully co-exist, such as office, retail, residential, culture, entertainment, restaurants and markets. In order to achieve this the street structure needs to be repaired to create a place that is much easier to move through. The redevelopment of the Wholesale Markets will provide the opportunity to remove barriers to movement, create new open spaces and open up routes to the area from Park Central, Eastside, Digbeth and Highgate. One possibility is to create a sizable city square, “Moat Square”, together with a lake or major water feature, on the site of the medieval moated manor house to draw people down from the Bullring and into Southside. This would further the theme of Birmingham as a “Water City”. The centre of activity in the area would be New Street Station, Hurst Street and Moat Square.

Original Document

Southside as a prime office destination. A major new office quarter would be located near New Street Station and the area of the Wholesale Markets with ancillary independent retail, cafés and restaurants. In order to maintain activity in the area in the evenings and at weekends, the offices would be supplemented by residential apartments and active ground floor uses, such as restaurants and cafés.

Original Document

Southside as an important shopping destination. Southside would be developed as a major mainstream extension to Birmingham’s shopping centre, to draw shoppers down from the Bull Ring towards the area currently occupied by the Wholesale Markets.

Original Document

Magnet Southside. A major new public square of the scale and quality of Victoria Square would be created on the site of the former moated manor. The area would also contain a lake and water feature. Southside would be come a magnet for people using the city centre and would host a wide range of activities from open air events to markets, theatres and cafes. It could also be the location of a landmark cultural building.

Original Document

Southside for specialist shopping. Niche retailing and leisure would be developed around Hurst Street, with smaller units reflective of the historic grain, including independent shops, cafés, restaurants and residential. Birmingham’s retail offer would be expanded to the south of the station which would create a retail loop from the Mailbox, through Southside, the Bullring, along New Street and back to the Mailbox.

Original Document

Southside as a food quarter. Southside would be the location of outdoor food markets, retaining the legacy of food in the area by bringing together the markets, shops and restaurants together into a food quarter, potentially centred around Moat Square (See Option 3).

Original Document

Southside as a theatre and entertainment district. A major entertainment quarter would be developed to complement the existing Hippodrome, back-to-back museum, Electric Cinema and Birmingham Royal Ballet. A large square would be created on the site of the Wholesale Markets, large enough to stage major outdoor events, and make this a focus for a much enlarged leisure and theatre sector, with close links with the Hippodrome and Gay Village.

Original Document

Southside living. A high-density residential neighbourhood would be developed, with ancillary local retail, cafés and restaurants and one, two and three bedroom apartments and penthouses of generous proportions, distinguishing it from existing developments in the city centre.

Original Document

Southside High. Southside would become a focus for a cluster of tall buildings. The two towers proposed to the south of New Street Station would be the focus of a larger cluster of tall buildings. Very tall buildings would be encouraged on the Wholesale Markets site.

Original Document

Southside medium rise. Southside would become a high density but medium rise area of 6 to 8 storeys based on a perimeter block system, with mixed uses on the ground floor.