HOW CAN BIRMINGHAM THRIVE IN A CHANGING WORLD WITH AN UNMAPPED FUTURE?
The future of Britain’s great cities is increasingly in their own hands and this has been spelt out loud and clearly by George Osborne and will be reinforced by the Cities and Local Government devolution bill. The Chancellor outlined how he saw the devolution picture developing and he announced that he would give more power to those English regions “who want to take the bold step into the future.” Our region is on the threshold of being one of the biggest success stories in modern times. The Strategic Economic Plan (SEP) has identified the “Game Changers” (including three relating to HS2); the Growth Sectors (including Life Sciences); and has recognised the front and centre role that skills have to play: “Birmingham trained me to compete”. The SEP helped us secure one of the largest Growth Fund settlements ever made and as we move into delivery, the confidence in the region seems to be growing day by day. We know nothing stands still and already we are seeing the “Midlands Engine for Growth” starting to fire on all cylinders. Recent announcements such as HSBC’s new headquarters for its ring-fenced retail and commercial banking operations being located at Arena Central in Birmingham and the 1,000 staff this will accommodate is great news. We are also subject to almost daily good news stories of foreign direct investment, the region being announced the most popular relocation destination for people from London, and that our food, heritage and culture rank amongst the best on offer. All of this is extremely
RANKING ON INDEX
PEOPLE
BIRMINGHAM #17 • LONDON #3 • MANCHESTER #12
BIRMINGHAM #10
PLANET
• LONDON #12 • MANCHESTER #14
PROFIT
BIRMINGHAM #29 • LONDON #2 • MANCHESTER #21
positive but we need to keep the engine revving and keep on improving its performance. The thought of the West Midlands having greater power and control over local transport, housing, skills and healthcare as well as being given the tools to grow the local economy and let local people keep the rewards is an exciting and attractive one. Central Government have already identified how spending powers to the Combined Authority Model as a driver for economic growth could be delivered. However, in order to secure these powers, a joined-up and united
HOW SUSTAINABLE IS BIRMINGHAM? Quite apart from London, Birmingham is in competition with other big UK cities and from rising cities around the world. In our recent ARCADIS Sustainable Cities Index, it scores exceptionally well, ranking 18th out of 50 leading global cities beating the likes of New York (20th), Los Angeles (28th), Tokyo (23rd) and Rome (24th). But closer analysis of the index identifies areas for improvement that if addressed could easily secure Birmingham a top 10 slot in future. What is also relevant is how the areas for improvement align with the opportunity that devolution offers.
Birmingham scores an excellent 10th place in the Planet metric which captures environmental factors like energy emissions and pollution. However, it lags a little in terms of the People metric, which measures social performance including quality of life (ranking 17th) and further still in Profit terms, which assesses business environment and economic performance (ranking 29th). The index reinforces the need to address some of the key issues that are preventing Birmingham from moving into a top 10 position.
CONNECT BIRMINGHAM TO THE REST OF THE UK Infrastructure is one area where there is room for improvement. The connectivity in the region and to the wider UK is seen as holding us back – relative to other global cities. However, you would have had to have been on Mars not to be aware of HS2, Birmingham Airport runway extension, Midland Metro, New Street Station, Birmingham Connected, the work of the West Midlands Integrated Transport Authority and the significant Growth Deal settlement which is dominated by infrastructure projects. As infrastructure takes time to deliver, there is a natural lag between announcement, delivery and impact on any statistical based index. However, we need to make sure we capture and optimise the benefits of this infrastructure, making sure it is coordinated with the wider housing and employment growth agenda and that it is delivered on time and to budget. The region really needs to adopt a programme-based approach to all this activity, making sure that the interdependencies are recognised and managed, the efficiencies are captured and maximised and the benefits are tracked and realised.
DELIVER MORE HOMES The housing challenge in Birmingham is also an area which needs to be addressed. The shortfall of plots identified needs addressing (and on-going work has started), but also the pace of delivery needs to be increased. Investment along the lines of the HSBC announcement will instantly deliver in the order of 1,000 new workers requiring somewhere to live. The current rate of delivery is not going to meet the increasing demand and this will drive prices higher, potentially damaging the affordability of the region and therefore its attractiveness. Again the Combined Authority model offers an opportunity to not only plan where the housing plots should go, but also to think differently about public sector intervention in housing delivery. Birmingham City Council already has its delivery vehicle, BMHT, and with local authorities and the wider public sector being actively encouraged to free up surplus land for housing, could we not roll out the model, or a version of it, across the region? This has the potential to increase the pace of delivery, create jobs (direct and supply chain), drive efficiency through supply chain and larger volumes, balance supply and demand to impact house price inflation and a host of other benefits. We should also remember that the opportunity a Combined Authority provides to release even more land through rationalisation of assets and estates will be significant. This again has the ability to impact housing supply and delivery and to also significantly reduce the operating costs for the authorities and deliver value from the freed up real estate.
UPSKILL OUR PEOPLE There are other challenges we face including a real need to improve the skills of the region’s citizens to align to the jobs and opportunities that are being created. All these areas for improvement will have to be addressed if we are to improve our global position. We are making good progress but more needs to be done. If we get this right, a top 10 place in the Sustainable Cities Index is not just a certainty but is underambitious. George Osborne has offered the icing on what is already looking to be a tasty cake. The opportunity to secure the powers and funding over the areas that have been identified for improvement is one that seems too good to be true and one that, if we grab and truly maximise, will see the midlands engine for growth powering ahead and winning the global race for success.
CONTACT
Simon Marks City Executive, Arcadis T +44(0)121 503 2792 E simon.marks@arcadis.com
www.arcadis.com
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approach is needed. This will require intelligent, selfless and bold leadership from across the region. The best way to deal with change is to drive it - the alternative future is unthinkable. We live in an increasingly competitive world and our region needs to use all the tools and strengths at its disposal to secure our future.