Birmingham grabs the bull by the horns

Britain’s second city has a long history as a leading centre for trade and business. The site of the Bullring is in the heart of Birmingham’s CBD.

1166:The Bullring site began life as the city’s market place.

1960’s: The market site became one of the country’s most famous examples of urban planning with the dramatic development of the old Bullring into one of the world’s largest enclosed shopping centres outside the US.

The history of Birmingham’s CBD

1980’s:Despite its history, Birmingham CBD had little to offer and was in serious decline. Many shoppers and businesses had left the CBD to go to new retail and business parks built on the urban-rural fringe of the city.

The Bullring shopping centre reflected this decline.By the 1980s it:• looked outdated• had mainly cheap discount shops• had a poor reputation for crime• couldn’t compete with the modern, spacious and easily accessible out-of-town retail centres

The old Bullring Centre and the Rotunda

1980s

1980s

The old fruit and veg market

The Old fruit and Veg Market and the Pavillion Shopping Centre

1980s

1990s:Birmingham council decided to totally redevelop the Bullring site as well as a number of other parts ofthe CBD. Urban planners and architects beganwork to redesign the area with the aim of bringinginvestment, businesses, jobs and shoppers back tothe CBD. 2000:Demolition of the old Bullring started on the 30 June 2000, with completion in March 2001. Constructionof the new Bullring Centre started immediately after.

Construction 2001

Construction 2001

Construction 2001

The all newBullring Centre

OpenedAugust2003

The outside of Selfridges and a new car park (formerly the fruit and veg market)

The new Bullring Centre and the revamped Pavilion Centre

Inside the Bullring Centre

Touch screen informationpoints and big screenswhich showadverts and local news

• total cost was £500 million

• over 140 shops, boutiques and restaurants

• 2 prestigious departments stores; Selfridges and Debenham’s

• new open spaces, walkways and performance areas with a mix of modern architecture and historic buildings

• 3,100 new car parking spaces

• over 8,000 jobs were created within Bullring

• existing landmarks such as the Rotunda, the Pavilion shopping centre, and St Martins Church have been cleaned and restored

The new Bullring Centre

Improving accessibility -Moor Street Station

• improving the accessibility of the CBD is a very important part of attracting people back into the city

• Moor Street station is located behind the Bullring Centre

• the old station is currently being restored in its original 1930s style

• the station will open in 2005 and provide a gateway to the Bullring Centre from London Marylebone and commuter towns such as Solihull, Warwick, Leamington Spa, Banbury and High Wycombe.

The entrance to Moor Street Station

The refurbished ticket offices

Moor Street Station

• The redevelopment of Birmingham’s CBD has also included several other ‘flagship’ developments:

- The Mailbox- The International Convention Centre - The National Indoor Arena- Several areas of new luxury apartments

The Mailbox

The Mailbox

• The building was formerly a Royal Mail sorting office but was transformed and opened in 2000 as a very exclusive district consisting of:

- designer fashion and lifestyle shops e.g. DKNY, Polo Ralph Lauren and Hugo Boss - luxury apartments - two hotels - leading businesses e.g. Cable and Wireless - secure 24 hour parking - range of restaurants and café bars - expensive hairdressers and beauty salons - a gym

The Mailbox

The International Convention Centre

• Completed in 1991.

• Birmingham’s premier venue for exhibitions, business meetings, conferences and shows.

• Has 11 halls with state of the art facilities.

• The centre attracts business people and visitors from all over the World. The visitors are generally wealthy and help benefit other businesses in the CBD by spending money in hotels, restaurants, entertainment and shops.

The International ConventionalCentre (ICC)

Canal sidedevelopment:Brindley place

- trendy bars- cafes- restaurants

The National Indoor Arena (NIA)

• Opened in 1991 by Linford Christie.

• Multi purpose arena which stages a wide range of indoor sport as well as concerts, entertainment spectaculars and business events.

• The arena is a centre for international sport, having staged World Championships in netball, badminton, powerlifting, archery, climbing and tae-kwondo.

• The arena can seat up to a maximum of 13,000 people so is often used for music concerts featuring popular bands.

The National Indoor Arena (NIA)

New apartments in the city seemto be appearing everywhere!

• There are many luxury apartments and penthouses being built aimed at rich young professionals.

• These are proving to be very popular showing that Birmingham’s redevelopment of the CBD has been a success. It’s now trendy to live in the city!

• People buying apartments to live in the city also helps bring money to businesses in the CBD and creates opportunities for new businesses like food shops and dry cleaners thus creating more jobs.

Attracting people back to livein the city - new apartments

If you go toBirmingham you’ll see this slogan everywhere.

What do you think the slogan is trying to sayaboutBirmingham?

Practice essay question:

For a named city; i) describe and explain the decline of its CBDii) outline what has been done to attract money, jobs and customers back to the city.

(8 marks)