Birmingham
Overview
Birmingham is the UK’s biggest city outside London with over a million residents. The regional capital with a world-class economy the city is in the top 80 global cities. It is an attractive city with more miles of canals than Venice, with attractive parkland throughout the city and the ‘Cleanest City’ award winner 2007/8.
With a rich heritage of innovative and pioneering voluntary and community action, Birmingham offers one of the 'best business environment' in Europe and one of the top three 'most dynamic European cities' when it comes to encouraging entrepreneurship. The city of a thousand trades–now a city of over 42,000 businesses and an international centre of business and professional services. It is an inventive and creative city whose credits and legacy include gas lighting, the use of radiography in operations, hole-in-the-heart operations, James Watt's steam engine, and Tolkien's Lord of the Rings.
A leading 'Science City' and 'Digital City' inspiring innovation, delivering nationally leading research with our five universities and keeping our diverse community informed and connected. Leading on climate change with local energy generation from Combined Heat, Power and Cooling schemes; Birmingham Cutting CO2– over 24,000 pledges made in the first year, saving over 6,000 tonnes of CO2; and the country's only hydrogen-gas vehicle-fuelling station. ...making Birmingham a great place to live, learn, work and visit.
Our vision for Birmingham
Birmingham's first Community Strategy in 2002 set out two key objectives for the city. These remain our aims.
We want Birmingham to be
- a city of national and international significance which has a successful and sustainable place in the world economy
- a city whose local neighbourhoods and vibrant urban villages are flourishing and whose people benefit from its prosperity.
What is Birmingham 2026?
Birmingham 2026 is the long-term sustainable community strategy shaping Birmingham’s future. It is vital to the success of the UK's economy. It will be based on firm evidence, reflecting what local people and organisations say are the big issues for the city over the next two decades. It sets out how Birmingham's stakeholders will respond to these challenges.
It is developed by Birmingham City Council and the local strategic partnership, Be Birmingham, which brings together partners from the business, public, community, voluntary and faith sectors, to deliver a better quality of life in Birmingham.
Birmingham’s first Community Strategy was launched in 2002, and updated in 2005 -Taking Birmingham Forward
Working in partnership, we’ve achieved a great deal, but there’s still more to do.
A draft new strategy, developed in 2008, takes a look at progress to date. It defines key issues facing the city – which we must work together to meet. This plan focuses on the long term rather than "quick fixes". It offers everyone the opportunity to be involved in building an even better future.
Our Vision
It's 2026...
- Birmingham is the first sustainable global city in modern Britain. It is a great place to live, learn, work and visit: a global city with a local heart.
- Birmingham people are healthy and enjoy living together.
- Birmingham is a safe, clean and friendly city, tackling climate change and enhancing the local environment.
- Birmingham people have high aspirations, skills and the opportunities they need to succeed.
- Birmingham is globally competitive, contributing fully to the thriving, prosperous and sustainable region.
Further details of the City of Birmingham’s strategic vision can be found at; www.bebirmingham.org.uk
The role of Connected Urban Development
Digital technologies hold the key to Birmingham's future growth and economic success. Our focus on the development of global technologies for communication, investment in the infrastructure to develop a first class connected city and the development of outstanding interactive and collaborative content will complement and strengthen all activities across the city.
Further details about the sustainability plans of the City of Birmingham can be found at; http://www.digitalbirmingham.co.uk/content.php?uid=CUD and in the Birmingham 2026 Vision strategy.