Birmingham Case Study Flashcards

1
Q

Location

A

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.

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2
Q

Importance within UK

A
  • 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.
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3
Q

Importance international

A
  • 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.
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4
Q

Impacts of national and international migration

A

. 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.

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5
Q

Urban Change and opportunities: Social + Economic Opportunities

A
  • 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.
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6
Q

Urban change and opportunities: Environmental – Urban Greening

A

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.

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7
Q

Urban Change and Challenges: Social and Economic

A
  • 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.
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8
Q

Urban deprivation

A

This is when an area has a quality of life below the acceptable standard.

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9
Q

Spiral of decline

A

. 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.

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10
Q

Inequalities in housing

A

. 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.

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11
Q

Inequalities in education, health and employment

A

. 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.

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12
Q

Education stats

A

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%.

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13
Q

Urban change and challenges: environmental

A

• 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.

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14
Q

Waste disposal

A

. 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.

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15
Q

Household waste recycling centres

A

. 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.

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16
Q

Energy recovery

A

. New Energy Recovery Facility (ERF) that takes 350,000 tonnes of rubbish per year and converts it into electricity.
.Problem is waste is burned, releasing carbon dioxide.

17
Q

Rural-urban fringe

A

Area on the edge of an urban area. Rural and urban land uses are often mixed. Often at risk of urban sprawl.
• Wanted for a range of reasons inc. new retail parks, new suburbs (residential areas on the outer part of a city), leisure facilities (such as golf courses) and industrial estates.
• Continued demand for new housing in Halesowen west of B has led to conflict over the use of many parts of the rural-urban fringe. 2017, ongoing debate whether to build on some of this land. So far, the council have stopped the plans, but this may change as population increases.

18
Q

Greenfield sites

A

. Not been built upon before e.g. farmland and countryside.
. Cheaper than brownfield.
. Contributes to urban sprawl and problems like traffic congestion.

19
Q

Brownfield sites

A

. Have built on before e.g. for industry - no longer in use.
. Can be redeveloped to provide new housing and make a place nicer.
.Usually expensive as the old buildings need to be removed first.
. May be contaminated by the previous land use.

20
Q

Urban sprawl

A

Expansion of an urban area into less populated areas.

21
Q

Commuter settlements

A

Towns around a larger city where people commute to the city to work. E.g. Dudley, Bromsgrove, Lichfield and Walsall.
• Last 10 years, approx 42,000 people have moved from the centre of B to the edge of city. Increase in population of commuter settlements. Challenges = increased traffic, air pollution and pressure on public transport as people are travelling further.
• Number of daily commuters was between 150,000 and 200,000 in 2011.

22
Q

Regeneration

A

Improving the economic, social and environmental conditions of a previously run down area. Many areas in Birmingham have suffered from industrial decline. Recent and ongoing regeneration in Birmingham includes Longbridge, Grand Central, Paradise, and Birmingham Curzon.

23
Q

Longbridge history

A

major centre for car manufacturing.

o Peak in 1965, over 25,000 people were employed there.
o From 1970’s, increased competition abroad led to the decline in many industries in B, inc car manufacturing.
o The manufacturing plant at Longbridge closed in 2005. Area became run down and many people were unemployed, therefore Longbridge was in need of regeneration.

24
Q

Longbridge Regeneration Plan

A

Regenerate the derelict Rover car plant by building over 2000 new homes and creating 1000 jobs. The plan includes:
o A technology park, including an innovation centre suited to small technology businesses.
o A £70 million new town centre with a range of major stores.
o Now hotels and leisure developments such as restaurants and cafes.
o Bourneville College, a new £66 million learning facility.
o A range of new office accommodation.
o Residential developments for a variety of age ranges.
o Large industrial and distribution centre buildings (warehouses) with easy access to the road network.

25
Q

Grand Central

A

o A new large concourse
o Better links to the surrounding area
o A nicer physical environment
o A range of new stores, including John Lewis which created 650 jobs.