Economic Development and Urban Regeneration in Britain: the example of Birmingham

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Economic Development and Urban Regeneration in
Britain the example of Birmingham

• Christopher Watson
• Centre for Urban and Regional Studies
• University of Birmingham

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The City of Birmingham

• In the centre of England.
• 175 km from London

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West Midlands Region

• With Birmingham at its centre

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Birmingham in the mid-18th century at the
forefront of the Industrial Revolution Matthew
Boultons Soho Manufactory opened in 1761
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At the centre of the national canal networkGas
Street Basin, Birmingham, around 1900
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Birmingham - 1980s recession Decline of
manufacturing
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Crisis in the industrial heartland 1970s and
1980s

• Factory closures
• Job losses
• 30 per cent of employment in the region depended
  on the automotive sector
• Inner city problems unemployment, poor housing
  conditions
• People were leaving the city

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Change was neededby the early 1980s

• Local authorities were seen to have a role in the
  analysis of the problems of the local economy
• Local economic development became a recognised
  element in public policy
• There was a new emphasis on the multiple problems
  of the inner city
• Housing improvement led to urban renewal, then
  to urban regeneration (1990s) and eventually to
  urban renaissance (2000s)

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But in the 1980s local authorities were very
traditional in their approach

• Project oriented an emphasis on the physical
  aspects of change
• Departmentalism professional territories were
  guarded
• In-house solutions were preferred

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The Thatcher governments of the 1980s

• Believed the private sector could play a much
  more important role in local economic development
  and urban regeneration
• Urban Development Corporations were established
  outside local government and designed to run more
  like businesses than public sector bodies
• Their focus was on the physical and economic
  renewal of their designated areas (eg London
  Docklands)

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Urban Development Corporation were criticised

• For their lack of engagement with local
  authorities, other public agencies and local
  communities.
• But governments learned from this (and other
  experiences in the 1980s) and saw the need in
  future regeneration
• for a holistic approach and
• to involve local communities

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Other important changes from the 1980s to the
2000s

• Much criticism of the way the public sector
  operated
• This led to the privatisation of many public
  facilities and services and the creation of
  agencies at arms length from government
• There was also a shift from the public
  administration of public services to the
  adoption of managerialism the application of
  private sector management principles and
  practices to the public sector

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What happened in Birmingham?

• Long before these changes, Birmingham City
  Council had taken the initiative in the 1980s to
  produce its first economic strategy
• The aims included
• To diversify the local economy
• To broaden the scope of economic development
  beyond traditional manufacturing industries
• To create the conditions and infrastructure for
  future growth and investment

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The centrepiece of the strategy was the
Convention Quarter where European Union funding
contributed to the development of

• The International Convention Centre (ICC)
• Symphony Hall
• The National Indoor Arena (NIA)
• These were followed by the private sector-led
  development of Brindleyplace with its canal-side
  housing, restaurants, offices and galleries,
  adjacent to the ICC and the NIA

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The return of regional policy

• The New Labour government elected in 1997
  established Regional Development Agencies in
  England
• To further economic development and regeneration
• To promote business efficiency, investment and
  competitiveness
• To promote employment
• To enhance the development and application of
  skills relevant to employment
• To contribute to sustainable development

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Urban renaissance and the competitive city

• New Labour supported a view that the competitive
  city was important and that city centres and
  city living would help to drive growth
• The government also supported the notion of a
  knowledge driven or knowledge based economy
  as the key to the countrys competitive future
• These policies brought together both economic
  development and urban regeneration

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Employment trends in Birmingham 1971 and
2006Source Hamish Wilson, Birmingham City
Council, September 2009

• 1971

• 2006

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The diversification of employment

• Services employment in the creative knowledge
  sector includes
• Higher education
• Financial intermediation
• Radio and television
• Architecture
• Telecommunications
• Sporting activities

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The new Department of Culture, Media and Sport,
established in 1997

• Encouraged the creative industries and their
  contribution to the knowledge economy
• Said that the creative industries had moved from
  the fringes to the mainstream of policy
  development
• Defined the creative industries advertising,
  architecture, arts and antiques, crafts, design,
  designer fashion, leisure software, music, the
  performing arts, publishing, software and
  computer services, and television and radio and
• Emphasised their close economic relationships
  with tourism, hospitality, museums and galleries,
  heritage and sport.

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The response of Birmingham and the West Midlands

• Birmingham has a range of creative industries
  5.6 per cent of jobs in the city and both the
  citys and the regional view of them as an engine
  of growth is positive, though sometimes ambiguous
• The citys economic strategy emphasises tourism,
  and only mentions the creative industries sector
• The Regional Development Agency has not included
  the creative industries as one of the 13
  priority clusters in the Regional Economic
  Strategy, though elements feature in some
  clusters such as Screen Image and Sound and ICT
• On the other hand, the cultural quarters
  including the Jewellery Quarter are an
  important part of the citys economic strategy

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The quarters in Birminghams economic
development plan
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Birmingham as a creative city

• In attempting to transform the image of a city,
  to make it attractive to skilled and
  entrepreneurial people and to help retain skilled
  local talent, a focus on culture and a creative
  approach to change are important
• But transformation takes a long time. In
  Birmingham it has been going on for nearly 30
  years and will continue long into the future

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What conditions help to make a creative cultural
knowledge city?

• They include
• A flexible and dynamic labour force with the
  right skills and talents
• An economic structure that fits the growth
  sectors of the current economy services,
  culture, consumption, high tech firms, media
• The ability to attract new and creative talent
• A good urban atmosphere that can stimulate
  economic growth
• A mature urban structure and a mature social
  structure
• A relatively safe environment
• Musterd, 2004

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In the British context, a creative city is

• Economy centred, supported by the use of cluster
  theory as a means of encouraging local and
  regional economic development, since creative and
  knowledge industries tend to cluster in cities
• Birmingham is a good example of this
• culture has been a key to the renewal of the
  city
• The cultural quarters especially the Jewellery
  Quarter, are evidence of the place of creative
  industries in the economic development and urban
  regeneration of the city
• The growth of city living through new housing
  developments associated with regeneration has
  brought new life and activity to the city centre

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City living in Birmingham
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In conclusion, however

• Consideration must be given to the need for
  affordable housing for lower income people on
  whom a competitive or creative city also depends
  for its success
• The tendency to think of manufacturing as the
  real economy must be resisted if softer areas
  such as education, culture and the creative
  industries are to be fully recognised as part of
  the changing local economy and the economy of the
  future
• These are challenges both for the city and for
  national policy and leadership

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