Birmigham (Structural Economic Change) Flashcards
How Birmingham has changed over time
- More roads
- More houses and buildings
- Expansion of city since 1890
- Less farm land
- People have moved away from primary jobs
- In 1950 there was lots of trains
- In 1950 lots of green spaces as main city was compact
- New hospital (Queen Elizabeth)
- Between 1950 and 2108 they regained green spaces
- Number of schools have increased
- More sport facilities
What happened between 1086 and 1700
1086
- relatively poor agriculture manor
1166
- Birmingham family, royal charter (1166), allowed markets
- Birmingham grew due to the trade
- lots of metal work and metal smelting
1563
- swarming with inhabitants and echoing with noise as it was a busy city life
1700
- pop grew to 15,000, rural to urban migration
- increase in middle class
- clearly differentiated housing based on social status
- Soho manufactory employed 700 people
What happened between 1800 and 1917
1800
- Gun, Jewellery, button and brass industries dominated (small products easy to transport on canal)
- Cadbury set up in Bourneville
- Lloyds and Midlands bank founded
- National canal network and London to Birmingham railway created, helped to encourage growth
1906
- Austin car plant at Longbridge opened
1917
- Dunlop tyre factory opened, employed 10,000 by the 1950s
- Chemical industry - Bakelite
What happened between 1930 and the 1980s
1930
- Birmingham survived the Great Depression due to the diversity of metal working industries and immigration from rural areas and British isles
1950s and 1960s, prosperity and growth
- Terraced housing (back to back) for factory workers
- middle class commuters supported urban expansion
- Trams, railways, busses and cars
- high quality suburb housing
- high air pollution due no controls on emissions
1970s and 1980s
- earnings fell from highest to lowest in Uk
- 19.4% unemployment in 1982
Why did this decline occur
- Oil crisis
- TNCs
- Vehicle industry
- Tower blocks
What occurred in the oil crisis
- 1973
- fragile geopolitics of Middle East resulted in a war
- increased oil price by ten fold
What did TNCs do
- foreign based TNCs in particular Japanese car manufacturers began to make significant progress into briths market, their products seen as more reliable and better value for money
- Birmingham’s traditional industries were already beginning to suffer due to over seas competition form TNCs based in countries with lower production costs
How did the vehicle industry affect Birmingham
- some overseas car manufacturers established factories in Uk but not in West Midlands where Birmingham is
- locations strongly influenced by grants from central government
- in car industry labour relations not smooth, strikes frequent during 1970s
How did tower blocks affect Birmingham
- during war houses destroyed
- this meant they built tower blocks to rehouse people who lost their home
- people went from back to back to tower block
Who played a part in the recent regeneration
- local gov
- national gov
- city council
- planning
- flagship development
- bull ring
- canal and river trust
Transport
What did the local government and national government don
Local gov
- promoted the city attracting inward investment to bring about construction of NEC (national exhibition centre) and extension of airport
National gov
- from the late twelfth century onwards use was made of national government schemes such as city challenges and single regeneration budget which were designed to help places access funding for redevelopment.
E.g. The Birmingham Heartlands Development Corporation
Was established in 1992 to bring regeneration to old industrial areas such as Nechells.
E.g. The New Deal for Communities (NDCs)
Provided broadband access in parts of the inner city and set up work experience programmes.
What did the city council do
the city has a European and international affairs team who seek to promote Birmingham beyond the UK and to gain funding. £235 million was secured from the EU social investment fund. This money has gone into projects such as improving insulation in run down social housing and building small premises for start up SMEs.
What did planning do
- important in bringing about physical change which was hoped to be a catalyst for socioeconomic changes, more public spaces were developed such as the council house and the town hall they were all refurbished
What did Flagship developments do
- The international convention centre was funded by the EU the sympathy hall was opened in 1991.
- The convention centre (the Barclaycard centre) has the multiplier effect on hotels,
ODOS restaurants and leisure facilities who all benefit. - Universities have combined students of 50,000+
How did the bull ring help
- In late 1990s work begam to knock it down and redevelop the area, was costing them £500 million which was one of Europe’s largest city centre regeneration schemes ever.
- The bull ring has certainly changed the geography of central Birmingham by realigning and extending the CBD of the city into a more southcentral location
- One sobering thought is that the new bull ring is estimated to have a rate of obsolescence similar to the bull ring centre which it replaced, if so it could be demolished in about 2040
How did the canal and river trust help
- The canal network remains a testament to Birmingham’s industrial growth and is today a major resource enjoyed by visits and residents they bring about leisure , tourism and recreational roles as well as a educational value and transport value as well as regeneration schemes for the city such as the eastside regeneration.
How did transport help
- New Digbeth coach station
- New roads
- New street station
- Main railway station, New Street, has been transformed by a £700 million investment. This involved network rail, private developers and retailers such as john Lewis creating an are called Grand central.
- HS2 is the nationals governments flagship transport development which will directly impact Birmingham.
