Comment: Has Birmingham’s turning point finally arrived?

Ongoing daily issues around bin strikes and bankruptcy probably haven’t done much for Birmingham’s reputation over the past few years – but beneath the headlines a very different story has been taking shape, one of a city positioning itself for a new wave of investment and transformation, writes Mike Sheridan, Place Midlands editor.

Now, if it wasn’t already clear enough, Birmingham is now entering a pivotal stage in that project.

The launch of its latest ambitious set of transformation projects at MIPIM this week is proof, if proof were needed, that after years of quietly watching on as more ambitious city rivals surged ahead, the city is finding it’s voice at last.

A quick glance down the list of projects set to come under the new MDC planned for east Birmingham shows a city which is rapidly emerging as a major investment hotspot, with more than £10bn of transformative projects in various stages of delivery.

Now, with a star-studded list of schemes set to include a £2bn Sports Quarter and the £4bn Knowledge Quarter to name but two, the city is looking to tie its various projects together with an ambitious offer to investors for very heart of the city centre – an area in need of some attention.

The headline figures from the Central Heart prospectus, unveiled at MIPIM this week, are the 5,000 new homes and 8,000 jobs, joining a wave of major investment projects including HS2, Smithfield redevelopment and Big City Plan initiatives.

The city centre is the beating heart of Birmingham’s offer and the glossy brochure certainly offers an impressive vision for the future – even if some of those CGI’s showing a play-park on High Street might seem a little far fetched.

Announcing the strategy, city council chief executive Joanne Roney said the city now has “a clear plan and a strong partnership” between the local authority, business and communities.

And while there’s not a huge amount of new content in the proposals – plans for a 50-storey tower on the site of a former department store, and the redevelopment of Martineau Place have been in the public domain for weeks – seeing those schemes come together in a coherent vision for the city centre has presented a powerful marker for potential progress.

The arrival of HS2, bringing London within an hour’s train ride from the city centre, seems to be proving a tantalising prospect for investors.

What is now clear is that the city now has an incredible opportunity to bring together converging projects into a masterplan, once that has the potential change the face of Birmingham for a generation.

Whether all of these schemes arrive exactly as envisioned remains to be seen. But what is clear is that Birmingham is no longer short of ambition.

With infrastructure, investment and planning now beginning to converge, the city has a rare opportunity to reshape its centre — and, perhaps, its reputation — for decades to come.