35,000-home Birmingham Masterplan

Birmingham City Council has drafted a 20-year masterplan that will see the creation of new jobs and up to 35,000 homes. 

The council will launch the Our Future City: Central Birmingham Framework 2040 at the UK’s Real Estate Investment & Infrastructure Forum this week. 

Arcadis are the lead consultants of the framework, with Howells providing architectural support. 

The masterplan aims to create up to 35,000 homes and 74,000 new jobs, an 80% of the city’s current employment capacity. 

Inside the scheme

The framework focuses on five zones in Birmingham: 

• City Heart: Bull Ring, Colmore Business District, Snowhill and Steelhouse, Southside, Town, Westside;
• Central North: Eastside and Aston Triangle, Gun Quarter, Nechells, Newtown;
• Central East: Bordesley, Digbeth, Small Heath;
• Central South: Balsall Heath, Edgbaston, Highgate;
• Central West: Hockley, Jewellery Quarter, Ladywood, Spring Hill.

Other goals include doubling Birmingham’s green space and its network of active travel routes to 200km. 

Initial plans for the framework were published in 2021, with the council securing approval and feedback in Winter of that year.

This masterplan builds on the 2021-2040 delivery of the framework, which will focus on the city’s major projects.

“Arcadis are privileged to have been the lead consultant in developing this exciting framework for Birmingham. The vision is bold and rightly ambitious – so much has been achieved in recent years, and the Commonwealth Games proved we can deliver,” said Simon Marks, Birmingham and Midlands City executive for Arcadis. 

Howells partner, Glenn Howells said: “As Howells, we are located and invested in the heart of this industrious city and have worked in partnership with the council and Arcadis team to develop an inclusive framework that we believe will establish a clear, city-scale ambition for the next 20 years of economic and social growth.”

If you like this article, check out Major plans reveal 4,800 homes and new high street for Manchester.