CSMP26b - Birmingham case study notes

Question 1

Who were the players influencing Birmingham before 1950?

Answer 1

• The first players to influence change were the de Bermingham family who purchased a royal charter in 1166 that allowed them to hold a market. The place began to grow as a result of trade, a theme that continues right through to the present day.
• By supplying the Parliamentarians in the English Civil War (1642-1646) with swords, pikes and armour, Birmingham emerged with a strong reputation as a metal working centre
• By the early 1700s Birmingham’s population had grown to 15,000.
• Various machines for processing cotton were invented in Birmingham in the 1730s and 1740s, and electro-plating, oxygen and the pneumatic tyre were either invented or first used in the city.

Question 2

Who were the players influencing Birmingham before 1950? PT2

Answer 2

• Matthew Boulton was a key player in moving the industrial base of the town forward. An entrepreneur and engineer, he established one of the first factories in the world in 1761.
• His Soho Manufactory’ brought 700 employees under the one roof along with complete industrial processes
• The Cadbury family set up their Bournville factory and model village for the workers on the southeast outskirts of the city. Cadbury family were international players as they were the first to build a village for their workers, Milton Hershey soon followed and did the same thing
• 1917 the Dunlop tyre company, founded in Birmingham, established a large factory, which employed 10,000 people by the 1950s.

Question 3

Who were the players influencing Birmingham in the second half of the twentieth century?

Answer 3

• Between 1970 and 1983, earnings fell from being the highest in the UK to almost the lowest of any region and in 1982 unemployment reached 19.4 per cent
• Economic change occurred through the interaction of several players, Birmingham was caught up in the global recession of the 1970s in which the oil crisis of 1973 was most significant.
• The fragile geopolitics of the Middle East had resulted in another Arab-Israeli war, Most western countries supported Israel, so OPEC (dominated by Arab states) used their oil as a weapon and increased prices tenfold
• Foreign-based TNCs and in particular Japanese car manufacturers began to make significant in-roads into the British car market
• Their products were seen as more reliable and better value for money. Japanese manufacturers gained wide acceptance from the consumers along with makers such as VW, Renault and Peugeot

Question 4

Who were the players influencing Birmingham in the second half of the twentieth century? PT2

Answer 4

• Strikes were frequent during the 1970s and both management and the unions were players involved in the decline affecting the industry.
• This made Birmingham less attractive to potential investors - another group of influential players that could bring about change
• As a result of the local authority’s desire to bring, about comprehensive redevelopment as part of a slum clearance programme, many small industrial premises were demolished.
• As a result, Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) had difficulty finding, suitable premises. Those purpose-built by the local authority often charged rents that were unaffordable to start-up businesses. So this flushed them out
• Between 1945 and 1970, over 81,000 new dwellings were constructed. Not all were high-rise and the accommodation was significantly better
  than the old slums