Birmingham Case Study Flashcards
Location
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.
Importance within UK
- 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.
Importance international
- 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.
Impacts of national and international migration
. 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.
Urban Change and opportunities: Social + Economic Opportunities
- 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.
Urban change and opportunities: Environmental – Urban Greening
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.
Urban Change and Challenges: Social and Economic
- 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.
Urban deprivation
This is when an area has a quality of life below the acceptable standard.
Spiral of decline
. 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.
Inequalities in housing
. 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.
Inequalities in education, health and employment
. 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.
Education stats
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%.
Urban change and challenges: environmental
• 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.
Waste disposal
. 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.
Household waste recycling centres
. 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.