Birmingham

• 2nd largest up city
• 40% population under 25
• Small scale industries in 16th century due to coal seam
• First factory in the world established in Birmingham in 1761
• Metalworking grew in 19th century
• Industrial growth broight about banks and law firms such as llyods
• Cadbury factory with model village and better wages
• 1900s large car manufacturing such as 22000 jobs at mini and dunlop tyres
• Population grew steadily due to emerging industry but boomed in 1900 to 500000 and to 1.1 million in 1950
• 1960s many migrant workers began to arrive from Asia and the Caribbean due to low skill service based jobs
• In 1940s and 50s there was lots of air pollution and the name Black Country was given
• Canals constructed in 1700s to transport raw materials
• Densely packed terraces housing for workers
• Trams and buses increased mobility and suburbs were created
• Religious buildings and services for migrant emerged
• In 1973 Arab israeli War led to opec formation which caused oil prices to increase 4x which led to industrial decline as oil became expensive
• Overseas competition from Japanese car companies reduced manufacturing in Birmingham as imports were cheaper more reliable and more fuel efficient
• Trade unions made birmingham less attractive to foreign investors acccelerating decline
• Central government gave tax breaks and grants to foreign car manufacturers to set up in uk but they set up in areas other than Birmingham
• Birmingham council decided to demolish slums for redevelopment which meant small and medium firms went out of business as they could not afford rents
• Government invested in national exhibition centre to bring tourists to the area
• Local government received investment to increase airport size
• Flagship Developments of international convention centre and symphony hall (EU payed 50/200 mn)
• Flagship development of national indoor arena which hosted 2023 commonwealth games
• flagship development of bull ring centre which brings 38 million visitors annually
• 3 main universities which bring 50000 students annually
• Transport- good motorway connections from m5 and m6
• Birmingham new street 700mn train Station and shopping centre bringing in 1000 jobs
• HS2 catalyst for growth by bringing 1.4bn uplift in economy and halving journey time to London
• A social impact of Change was redevelopment of slums as 110k homes were substandard and replaced with 400 tower blocks
• Population redistributed to housing estates on rural urban fringes
• 19% unemployment 1982 fell to 8% in 2020
• 85% employed in services in 2006
• Migration brought new religions and changes to built environment
• Green belt implemented to limit sprawl
• Migration following ww2 from carribean and South Asia to work in service jobs and tended to cluster in regions outside cbd