We think that Birmingham should try to show the range of different people living here through its projects, businesses and housing, and through its buildings, food, music, theatres and art.
Birmingham should actively seek to reflect the diversity of its population, through its enterprises, businesses and housing, and through the built environment, food, music, theatres and art.
A million people live in Birmingham, and if you include surrounding towns and cities nearly two and a half million people live nearby. Birmingham is Britain’s second biggest city, and is also big when compared to most cities in Europe. The average age of the people of Birmingham is young when compared to other towns, and also contains people of a wide variety of ethnic backgrounds. The population is also growing. So far, we think the regeneration of the city centre has been a success and it has attracted a lot of money into the city.
We would say that Birmingham has:
We think Birmingham should aim to:
This report is to help us produce what we call ‘The Big City Plan” – which is a plan for the future of Birmingham’s City Centre. When we say City Centre we mean the area within the Ring Road (the Middleway) inside the pink line on this map. This is 8 square kilometres or 3.09 square miles.
The plan will show what we wish for Birmingham over the next 20 years.
The city centre is not just shops and offices, but everything that the area covers:
The plan will aim to help Birmingham continue to be successfully and get better and better known in the UK and abroad. It will aim to make sure all development fits together sensibly, and the city centre becomes a more attactive place to live.
The Big City Plan will be part of what is called the Local Development Framework (or LDF) — a collection of documents that describe how a city is planned. The LDF will also include a plan for the whole of the city.
The plan has to match national government plans, Regional Spatial Strategy and with the Birmingham Plan. The Regional Spatial Strategy says that Birmingham needs 50,600 new homes by 2026, 1.3 square kilometres (0.502 square miles) of places people work (growing up to 3.9 square kilometres or 1.51 square miles) and 225,000 square metres of shops by 2021 (355,000 sq m by 2026) and also 590,000 square metres of offices in the city centre.
There is already a report called Birmingham 2026 which sets out some aims for Birmingham in the year 2026, and a three year plan called the Birmingham Local Area Agreement — the Big City Plan will have to work with these.
Some work has already been done to get the Big City Plan into this shape, but it’s now time for everyone to tell us their opinions. After this it will be turned in to a final version which you will again have chance to see and talk about. It will then be passed to the Government. If all this goes well, Birmingham will be able to start work on the plan later this year.
Birmingham is a city of a million people at the centre of a conurbation of two and a half million. Birmingham is Britain’s second city and is big on the European scale. It has a young, diverse and growing population. In the face of massive economic change, the city has achieved great regeneration success and has attracted large amounts of inward investment, with more to come. It has new high technology manufacturing, a rapidly growing business and professional services sector, a strong university and research sector, and world-class business conference and exhibition facilities. It wants to attract more high value international investment, and register much more strongly on the international scale. It wants to be an exciting and attractive place where individuals and families choose to live and stay. It wants to be a place renowned for great public spaces and as a ‘Water City.’
This Issues and Options Report is a stage in the development of The Big City Plan, a plan for Birmingham’s city centre. The city centre is the area within the Ring Road (Middleway), and covers some 800 hectares. The Big City Plan will develop the new vision for the city centre and set a new direction for the city centre over the next 20 years. The city’s aspiration is to be in the top 20 most liveable cities in the world within 20 years. The Big City Plan will be an important instrument in realising that ambition.
The city centre is not only the core area of shops, offices and hotels, but all the myriad activities that take place within Birmingham’s quarters – its homes, start up businesses, universities and educational establishments, cultural scenes, specialist services, creative industries – in fact, everything within the area bounded by the Ring Road. The plan will build upon Birmingham’s success and will ensure that the city raises its performance and its profile nationally and internationally. It will provide a coherent approach to regeneration and development and will help to make the city centre a much more attractive and liveable place.
The Big City Plan will form part of the Local Development Framework (LDF). The LDF will be made up of a portfolio of documents including Area Action Plans and Supplementary Planning Documents, and will be an important means through which to deliver our vision for Birmingham’s city centre. Also in the LDF will be a new Birmingham Plan, which will be the core strategy for the whole city. It has not yet been decided what type of document the Big City Plan will become.
The Big City Plan has to be consistent with national policy guidance, the Regional Spatial Strategy and with the Birmingham Plan. The Regional Spatial Strategy sets out some important requirements for Birmingham: 50,600 new homes by 2026 over the city; a 130 hectare city-wide reservoir of employment land with a longer term requirement of 390 hectares; and 225,000 square metres of comparison retail development by 2021 (355,000 sq m by 2026) and 590,000 square metres of office development in the city centre.
The Big City Plan takes forward our shared vision for the future of the city (Birmingham 2026) – helping to deliver our five key outcomes that Birmingham people succeed economically, stay safe, are healthy, have a high quality of life and can make a positive contribution. Birmingham 2026, and our three-year implementation plan (the Birmingham Local Area Agreement) can be found at: http://www.bebirmingham.org.uk/2026/
Work on the Big City Plan is being carried out in several stages. We have been undertaking research for some months to gather information to ensure that the proposals and policies which emerge later in the process are grounded in robust, up to date information. We are now at the issues and options consultation stage where everyone interested in the future of the city centre has the opportunity to get involved. In the next stage we will produce a preferred options report which will be subject to formal consultation for 6 weeks. After that we will produce a draft plan which will be submitted to the Secretary of State for examination. We hope to formally adopt the Big City Plan in 2009.
We want Birmingham to be known around the World, as well as being important within the Midlands. We believe that growth (in size and getting richer) is important. In the next 20 years it’s estimated that the number of people in Birmingham will go up to 1.1million, we will need even more facilities to become better in comparison to other cities in the World.
We want Birmingham to be in the top 20 “most liveable” (best to live in) cities in the World, to do this we need to develop a way for Birmingham to be seen by the rest of the World, and also making the city a good place to live.
Birmingham’s ambition is to be a ‘global city with a local heart.’ Birmingham aims to develop a global role in addition to its position as a regional capital. Growth is a key element of this plan. The city will grow considerably during the next 20 years to at least 1.1 million. Economic, social, cultural and educational facilities will need to grow even more to establish the city’s global role. Birmingham also aspires to be among the top 20 most liveable cities in the world within 20 years. This means developing a global economic and cultural role for Birmingham whilst nurturing the potential of everyone in the city and promoting a productive, innovative and welcoming environment for residents, visitors and investment.
The city centre must help to house the rise in people and households that we expect for the city. There are two important things:
A growing population needs more jobs, schools, shops, places to go, places to enjoy. This report has ideas about how we can make this happen.
It is clear that whichever option is followed within the Core Strategy, the city centre must play its part in accommodating the big rise in population and households that is forecast for the city. This has important implications in two areas. Firstly, the need to create balanced communities with a full range of facilities that will encourage families to live in the centre; and secondly, the need to adopt planning policies that allow for the right kind of residential growth within the centre. A growing population will need more jobs, schools, more shops, places to go, places to enjoy. This report suggests ways in which these changes may be realised and delivered.
‘Growth’ is an important part of the Big City Plan. Birmingham will be an important centre for growth in England as a whole and also within the West Midlands region. The number of people living in Birmingham could grow by about a tenth to around 1.1 million people. There are a lot of young people living in Birmingham, which leads to a bigger population, and there will be more households and so more housing will be needed.
Growth will be a key theme of the Big City Plan. Birmingham will be a major focus for growth in England and within the West Midlands region. The potential growth in population over this period could be up to 10% or more, raising the population to at least 1.1 million. Birmingham also has a young population which is itself an important driver of growth, and the number of households – and hence the need for housing – will also continue to grow.
The number of people who live in Birmingham city centre is actually quite small. In 2001, it was about 23,000; since then there have been several housing developments which have raised it to around 30,000. Although the centre’s population is the size of a small town, it is tiny compared to the whole of Birmingham. The number of people living in the 800 hectares of the city centre is quite low and there is room for more.
The residential population of Birmingham city centre is actually quite small. In 2001 it was about 23,000; since that date there have been several residential developments which have raised it to around 30,000. Although the centre’s population is the size of a small town, it is tiny compared with that of the city as a whole. Population density over the 800 hectares of the centre is relatively low and there is still great potential for residential growth in the centre.
The Core Strategy suggests three options for the growth of Birmingham as a whole. All three of these options involve a big increase in population. All need a lot of growth in the city centre. Having a lot of housing in the city centre needs a new and fresh look at planning proposals and policies.
The emerging Core Strategy proposes three options for the growth of Birmingham as a whole. All three of these options involve a significant increase in population. All will require substantial growth in the city centre. Accommodating significant numbers of new dwellings throughout the city centre will require a new and fresh look at planning proposals and policies.
The need for more housing can bring a lot of benefits to the city centre. Birmingham’s younger-than-average population and its ethnic mix are assets for the city. But outside the core shopping and office areas and outside working hours, much of the city centre is not lively partly because of a lack of people living there to support local activities and also because the way the land is used does not attract people there in the evenings. In the evenings, much of the city centre, including most of the main shopping areas are quite deserted. If the Big City Plan is to make the wider centre more interesting and lively, it must raise the city centre’s population and use the land in a wider variety of ways.
The requirement for more housing can bring substantial benefits to the city centre. Birmingham’s younger than average population and its ethnic mix are assets for the city. But outside the core shopping and office areas and outside working hours, much of the city centre lacks vibrancy owing partly to an absence of city centre residents to support local activities combined with an pattern of land use which does not attract people in the evenings. In the evenings, much of the centre, including most of the main shopping areas, are all but deserted. If the Big City Plan is to improve the interest and vibrancy of the wider centre it must bring about an increase in the city centre’s population and a more diverse pattern of land use.
One of the main challenges when wanting to raise the city centre’s population is the need to have a good mix of housing in the city centre, including a range of good family housing with supporting facilities. At the moment, the centre does not have a good range of quality housing and related facilities.
One of the main challenges in seeking to increase the city centre’s population is the need to create a satisfactory mix of housing in the city centre, including a range of good family housing with associated social infrastructure. The centre currently does not have a balanced, good quality stock of housing and related residential facilities:
Birmingham’s young and varied population is one of the things its known for and we can use this to help the city centre be different. A city centre for young people should be family-friendly; its open spaces should be safe in the day and the evening; its culture should include activities for children of all ages. At the moment there is not enough to attract families. The main city centre housing areas do not have a good enough range of housing, schools, shops or local facilities; and ugly and empty industrial buildings, poor public areas and feelings of insecurity are also problems. By creating a special family city centre environment, Birmingham can set itself apart from other cities and get much higher in the charts of places where people most want to live.
A young and diverse population is one of Birmingham’s defining characteristics and one that can be used to enhance the centre’s distinctiveness. A city centre for young people should be family-friendly; its open spaces should be safe during the day and into the evening; its cultural offering should include activities for children from toddlers to teenagers. At present there is not enough to attract families. The main city centre residential areas do not offer a good enough range of dwellings, schools, shops or local facilities, whilst the presence of unattractive and vacant industrial premises, a poor public realm and perceptions of insecurity are additional factors. The creation of an outstanding family city centre environment is an important way for Birmingham to distinguish itself among the core group of cities and to raise itself far above its current position on measurements of liveability.