How is birmingham a sustainable city

Birmingham Energy Savers is a partnership between the city and Carillion Energy Services and advises residents and businesses on energy saving measures. Both schemes were a combination of high level political support coupled with driven and competent individuals and teams. Where there is a clear sustainability champion for a new project and clear agreed criteria to maximise the long-term economic, social and environmental benefits, such as the new Library of Birmingham designed by Netherlands based architects Mecanoo and Buro Happold, then there is low carbon delivery.

Where this is missing, unless another partner, such as Network Rail and the former regional development agency, pushed the standards for the redevelopment of New Street Station, then opportunities are lost. Every major development site in the city should be a flagship scheme with a clear sustainability champion and agreed performance criteria. Basic project management may not be glamorous, but it is vital for detailed delivery.

City councils face many challenges from changes in political leadership, job cuts and staff reorganisation. Building a low carbon sustainable future, despite necessary quick wins, requires longer term planning and certainty. Over time this can be mainstreamed into all areas of the Council and its partners.

In the short-term it needs more dedicated resources to achieve this. These bodies can often attract other funding and provide the evidence investors and businesses need that the city is serious about longer term change and opportunities Birmingham has already recognised this through the creation of Marketing Birmingham, it now needs to do the same for Green Birmingham.

To encourage innovation and technological advancement for the benefit of the city, its links with academia are also important drivers. The University of Birmingham, used Birmingham Eastside, which at ha is the largest regeneration project within the city, as a regional demonstrator for an integrated approach to sustainable urban development.

The city has also agreed to be a test bed for a five year research project led by the University of Birmingham to investigate radically transforming the engineering of cities to deliver social well being within the context of low carbon living and resource security. Strong business links with the built environment, infrastructure and wider commercial sectors are essential to the delivery of this ambitious plan.

Transport too is important to the city, with the arrival of High Speed 2, an expanding airport and being at the hub of the UK motorway system. The challenge for the city and its partners is to ensure that these nationally strategic routes, linked into the local transport network, provide a powerful sustainable infrastructure for the city to build on and achieve its sustainability goals. The changes in infrastructure and culture and the impact on the image and perception of the city would be tremendous.

The success of a sustainable Birmingham cannot be achieved without central government support. Over 25 years ago when the city centre was dying, the Highbury conference was held which set out the vision, plans, flagship projects, and agencies to deliver a new future for the city centre.

We now have the award winning Brindleyplace, developed by Argent which set the standards for sustainable development along with the iconic International Convention Centre ICC which has helped put Birmingham on the European convention circuit.

Symphony Hall, a world class concert venue which spans the West Coast Mainline, was cleverly designed to sit on rubber bearings and isolate vibrations from the underground trains. Regeneration of the canals, Town Hall, the Bull Ring and Chamberlain and Victoria Squares and reclaimed streets for people have all helped to turn Birmingham from industrial decay into a true European city, attracting visitors from all over the world.

The challenge ahead is of the same scale and requires the same determination, skills and ability. We have done this before, we will do it again. A new extensive report into the carbon reduction potential for Birmingham shows the true costs and benefits of achieving significant carbon reduction.

From domestic properties to commercial buildings and from industrial businesses to transportation, the carbon reduction saving measures available to the Birmingham and Black Country city region are wide ranging.

Until now no definitive answers could be provided, but thanks to research revealed this month at the Base Birmingham event, the city now has new evidence of the costs and benefits of carbon reduction.

How we live in cities — from the way we heat our houses or use water to how we choose to travel — impacts on the environment in which we live and our quality of life: air quality, congestion, stress levels. Worries about budgets and space constraints, pollution and climate change are growing.

We cannot, however, easily see what lies beneath our roads and streets. Given that the majority of people live in cities and these numbers are rising, it is important that we create spaces where people want to live in and are able to thrive — the mix of built and natural environments in which we live, work and play. There is, therefore, a need to move to sustainable, resilient and liveable future cities in which we use space and resources wisely, and to achieve this we need to start doing things differently.

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