Re-imaging the City: The Transformation of Birmingham's Urban Landscape

Over the last decade and a half, Western cities have undergone dramatic restructuring as they have adapted to new economic, social and political realities. Geographers have suggested that a major factor underlying this restructuring is that the economic fortunes of Western cities are increasingly tied to global economic trends. This article thus seeks to explore the nature of these trends and their impact on the contemporary urban landscape, using Birmingham as a case study. Particular attention is given to the entrepreneurial policies being pursued by the local authority as Birmingham competes for a significant role in the world economy, including the construction of number of ‘spectacular’ developments designed to act as flagships in local economic development. It is argued that these new urban landscapes are fundamentally embedded in the ongoing relationship between local and global factors, and reflect the distinctive manner in which Birmingham has attempted to shift its economic base into new sectors. It is concluded, therefore, that changes to Western cities can only really be understood by examining the interplay between broad economic forces and the specific social, political and cultural character of cities, reminding us that the relationship between local and global processes is highly variable between different localities.