Birmingham’s Our Future City plans: here’s how Digbeth is set to look in 2040

Major plans are set to transform Birmingham City Centre into a healthy, walkable, green and vibrant place to live, chiefs claim.

The framework, unveiled last week and launched today at a conference in Leeds by Birmingham City Council leader Ian Ward (Lab, Shard End), focuses on five sections at the heart of the city.

A key area is Central East where the so called ‘creative quarter’ of Digbeth lies and which has become a hub for independent businesses, start-ups and coworking spaces in recent years.

The ‘Our Future City’ framework set out by Coun Ward at the UK’s Real Estate Investment and Infrastructure Forum aims to build on develpments in Digbeth spread opportunity to nearby Bordesley and Small Heath.

Tech sector growth

A £1bn ‘enterprise zone’ in Birmingham has helped boost Digbeth in the past 10 years with 3,000 tech businesses now reportedly creating £2bn for the local economy across the city. Digbeth has seen £16m of Enterprise Zone cash invested with works carried out on High Street Deritend and Curzon Street station which will be a key HS2 hub.

Chiefs want to support the growth of this sector with the delivery of The Bond, a new £18m campus for film, TV, games and virtual production.

This will be bolstered by skills and training programmes and courses at Southand City College and Birmingham City University, providing an influx of graduates to work in the sector.

A burgeoning creative sector

A new BBC regional headquarters for national TV, online and radio content will soon be located in the old Typhoo Tea Factory in a development boasting net zero credentials.

Endemol is also moving the production of its Masterchef series tothe city at Warwick Bar next to the canal where there will also be new homes and cultural attractions.

Major film and television production will take place in the city with the new Digbeth Loc film studios, spearheaded by Peaky Bliners creator Steven Knight the first phase of which will repurpose existing heritage buildings.

The Digbeth Estate – comprising the Custard Factory, Fazeley Studios, Rea Studios and The Bond and several other buildings – will also benefit from £1bn investment over the next 20 years.

This will increase the floorspace for businesses and leisure, while introducing residential uses too.

Transport

The East Central area will benefit from £1bn investment in transport, including the arrival of HS2 to Curzon Street Station and the restoration of the Camp Hill line.

The Camp Hill ‘chords’ will one day connect the line to Moor Street Station, increasing capacity and “allowing for new local and enhanced regional andnational rail connections”.

The East Birmingham Metro extension will connect to the Curzon Street hub at New Canal Street and stop at Meriden Street and by the CustardFactory on High Street Deritend.

New walking and cycling routes along canals and the Cole Valley will create a 20 minute walkable path to the ‘Bordesley Park Growth Zone’.

This industrial site, boosted by £17m of Levelling Up funding, will create up to 93,000 sq.ft of employment space and 3,000 jobs and training opportunities, chiefs claim.

Housing

The Garrison Park Quarter connects Digbeth to Bordesley and provides a “key area for growth” with plans to create a new residential development overlooking the historic park.

In Warwick Bar, a high density residential site owned by Homes England will deliver a mixed-use scheme at a canalside location, with the potential for a walkway link to the proposed Duddeston SkyPark.

936 homes are earmarked for Upper Trinity Street alongside affordable workspaces, and plans by HUB to redevelop Digbeth Bus Garage would see an extra 2,000 homes.

Goodstone development Camp Hill Gardens will provide 500 homes for rent with a park and rooftop gym for residents.

An additional 2330 homes and more than 80,000 sq.ft of commercial space are expected to pop up to the south of Digbeth’s high streets.