Background to the Plan

“The most ambitious and far reaching citywide development project ever undertaken in the UK”

— Councillor Mike Whitby, Leader, Birmingham City Council

Birmingham is a great international city, renowned for civic innovation, urban invention, racial and cultural diversity, as well as its creative and educational achievements.

The city has made tremendous progress over the last twenty years, regularly being hailed as one of Europe’s success stories, with over £10 billion of planned investment in the city centre alone. However, the city has changed dramatically over the last twenty years, especially with the changes to the inner ring road, making the city centre much larger. Both physically and economically new challenges and new opportunities are now on the agenda, and a new masterplan is needed that will help to unleash the tremendous potential of creativity and diversity of what is the youngest city in Europe.

Covering the greater city centre, the full 800 hectares out to the ring road, the Big City Plan will shape and revitalise Birmingham’s city centre over the next twenty years - physically, economically, culturally, creatively - and there will be extensive engagement with colleagues, partners, stakeholders and our citizens to help achieve this.

Councillor Neville Summerfield, Birmingham City Council Cabinet Member for Regeneration, said:

“This is a very exciting time for Birmingham — in the city centre alone there is planned investment of over £10 billion. A clear demonstration of our ambition for the city, the Big City Plan will ensure that any future development is part of a planned, coherent strategy for the city centre, in keeping with the city's status as a world city.”