GCSE Geography (AQA) - Birmingham

Location and importance of Birmingham in the UK and world

- Connected by major motorways such as M1, M5, M6, M54 and the M40, allowing for easy trade within the UK

- Creates 8.7% of the nation's exports

- 2.6 million residents in the metropolitan area

- 41.7 million individual visits to Birmingham a year

Impacts of international migration on the city

- Uni of Birmingham home to 10,000 students from more than 150 countries

- Chinese architecture, e.g. the Pagoda in Chinatown; many Chinese Restaurants such as Chung Ying and Peach Garden

- Birmingham has many Mosques (e.g. Birmingham Central Mosque) and Hindu Temples (SPCC Shree Ram Mandir)

- 26.6% Asian population

Urban change created opportunities: cultural mix

- Balti Triangle in Balsall Heath has 46 restaurants, many of which cater Asian dishes to match the population

- $3 billion invested into arts and culture in the last 25 years, led to creation of "The Drum" (intercultural arts centre for Asian, African and Caribbean arts

- Polish Millenium House in Digbeth a result of the thousands of Polish refugees, provides Eastern European spirits and food

Urban change created opportunities: entertainment

- 19 sports and leisure centres in Birmingham

- Birmingham Hippodrome has 2,000 seats and has an annual attendance of 600,000 people

- Bullring Shopping Centre has over 140 shops, providing a place for recreational shopping

- Plan introduced to build 67 football facilities in Birmingham at an expected cost of £14.9 million

- National Exhibition Centre largest exhibition centre in the UK, hosts 750 exhibitions and 7 mill attendance a year

Urban change created opportunities: employment

- Bullring provides 8000 jobs

- 16720 teaching jobs

- 1,000 creative businesses in Birmingham, employs over 17000 people

Urban change created opportunities: integrated transport systems

- 90% of Great Britain is under 4 hours travel time

- 25 year plan for 200 mile network of 11 Sprint rapid-transit lines (hybrid between bus and tram) which work with 80% less fuel cost than normal buses

- 50km of old canal towpaths in Birmingham converted to cycle routes

Urban change created opportunities: environmental

- 77 metre long green wall on New Street Station has 16,600 plants; they help with air pollution and add aesthetic appeal

- 15 new allotments built in Birmingham

- 4 composting sites in allotments in Birmingham for organic waste

- Number of trees in Birmingham aimed to double by 2030

Urban change created challenges: urban deprivation

- Birmingham 7th most deprived authority in the UK; 3rd most deprived core city

- 43% of population and 51% of the children in Birmingham live in the 10% most deprived areas in the city

- 22% of population of Birmingham live in income deprivation

Urban change created challenges: inequalities in housing and education

- 2% of the population is homeless

- 15% of inhabited properties are council houses

- Birmingham required 89000 more houses, but only had space for 51000

- Proportion of people with 5 GCSEs: Sutton Four Oaks = 87%, Ladywood = 43%

Urban change created challenges: Inequalities in health and employment

- Average life expectancy: Sutton Four Oaks = 86, Winson Green = 75

- Smoking and drinking more common in deprived areas; Ladywood has highest amount of respiratory illness in Birmingham (due to pollution and smoking)

- Unemployment: Sutton Four Oaks = 21.7%, Lozells = 41.4%

Urban change created challenges: dereliction

- Aston (inner city area) has over 12 derelict buildings, which have a lot of graffiti and vandalism

- Nechells has 5 despite small size, inner city areas have highest rate of dereliction as it is not profitable to build in them anymore

Urban change created challenges: building on brownfield and greenfield sites

- 70,000 homes pledged, half of these are to be built on greenfield sites worsening urban sprawl

- There is space for only 23,000 homes on brownfield sites, 89,000 new homes required due to urban growth

Urban change created challenges: waste disposal

- Only 28.2% of Birmingham's waste was recycled, lowest of all core cities in the UK

- 100 tons of Birmingham waste ends up in landfills every day

- Average Birmingham citizen threw out 316kg of waste in 2019, 2nd worst in the UK