Where is Birmingham going? Downloads

Part 1 of Professor Parkinson's Lecture How are English cities doing? is in two pdfs which can be downloaded here and here.
Parts 2 and 3 of his Lecture Where does Birmingham stand? and So what for Birmingham? can be downloaded here.

The brief we gave Professor Michael Parkinson was ambitious: to rate the performance of Birmingham against that of other British and European cities over the last 20 years or so, and to draw out from that the lessons we should take forward into the future.

Having led research for the Government on The state of English Cities’ (2006) as well as comparative studies of continental cities and a recent study for the City Council Visioning the Birmingham City Centre Masterplan, Professor Parkinson was well-qualified for the job.

His lightning tour of the statistics was the context for some big conclusions about where we stand now:

• After huge social and economic problems during the 1970s and 80s, cities in Europe are on their way back – now usually leading rather than holding back the economies of their regions
• Though much recovered from their low point in the mid-80s, UK cities (except for London) have generally performed less well than their continental European counterparts
• Though Birmingham bounced back strongly in the late 80s and early 90s, it has lost momentum over more recent years
• Though cities in the South and East of the UK did better than those in the North and East, Edinburgh, Leeds and Manchester all bucked this trend, and improved more than Birmingham.

In short, while Birmingham has done well, others have done better.
The reasons for these changes in fortunes range across a wide spectrum: quality of life, culture, entrepreneurialism, governance, infrastructure, social institutions and research capabilities (to name but a few) all play a part. But what of the future? Here Professor Parkinson pointed to some important indicators:

• On the plus side: Birmingham has done it before (for example, in the 1980s and 90s, also under Chamberlain, and in the heyday of the original Lunar Society) – so we can again. Going for us, we have a young population, great ethnic diversity (which ought to stand us in good stead in a globalised economy), good school performance and highly rated retail and arts sectors; but . . .
• On the minus side: We seem unable to hold onto our young graduates, have fewer jobs in creative and knowledge industries, lower levels of entrepreneurialism, and there is less cohesion between business, communities and local and regional government about leadership and direction.

So what can we do about it?

The breadth of issues corresponds well to the Lunar Society's agenda of linking different spheres of responsibility and catalysing action across institutional boundaries. Like the Lunar Society, Michael Parkinson believes that cities must be active in driving their own destinies. Inevitably, his lecture it leaves us with as many new questions about ‘where we are going’ as answers to where we have come from. But in doing so it has perhaps indicated where an important part of the Lunar Society’s future agenda should be.
The message is clear: Birmingham will have the future its people and institutions can create for it. The Lunar Society will provide a forum and a catalyst, but we must act!