Birmingham needs to get on and just do it

Nov 6 2008 By Madeleine Reaves

I’m feeling inspired!

I’ve just listened to Dermot Finch, director of Centre for Cities, talking about Birmingham. And, at the risk of sounding like a sycophant, what a guy!

What could have been a depressing presentation on the failings of the city followed by the obligatory Birmingham/Manchester comparison and self-flagellation session, was in fact an honest appraisal of the city and constructive look into the future.

An outline of Birmingham’s vital statistics – we are globally the 71st largest city but figures show that 33 per cent of our city’s residents are unemployed and 20 per cent have no qualifications – was added to by Dermot’s own brand of pithy comment and the suggestion that he likes the city and wants to see it flourish.

According to him, a successful city needs among other things to be niche, engaged and disseminated. Birmingham “could do better” when it comes to ticking the boxes, says Dermot. And, I agree.

At the heart of his message is the statement that without dramatic improvement the city will continue to underperform. The essential infrastructure – in transport, housing and education/ training – that is required and that will provide the foundations to build a successful city of the future must be delivered, with significant investment and support from both the public and private sectors.

This is a familiar story to Birmingham. We were called to action by Michael Parkinson two years ago when he praised an impressive first phase of regeneration and prompted the second act of the city’s revival. In the intervening months, Parkinson has moved on to reporting to Government on the likely impact of current market conditions on regeneration as a whole, but the real question for us is how has Birmingham progressed since then.

There is no doubt that in pockets of the city serious and inspiring action is taking place. But, in the months following the high profile public launch of The Big City Plan the message is clear, seems to be shared by industry experts through to the man on New Street, and is only gathering momentum.

This message is strikingly similar to the one big rule we have here at Birmingham Development Company: just f***ing do it. I do hope that Dermot would approve.

* Madeleine Reaves works for the Birmingham Development Company, owner/developer for The Mailbox and The Cube.