Case study of a city in a MEDC
BIRMINGHAM

Describe the Site of
Birmingham was a small and poor anglo saxon village (valued at �1 by the Doomsday Survey of 1087) built on a dry point site overlooking the flood plain of the River Rea. The sandstone ridge on which Birmingham is built stretches nothward to Lichfield and has long been used as a routeway. Evidence of Roman settlement has been found just outside the present day city centre next to the Queen Elizabeth Medical Centre.

Describe and explain the growth of
After the Norman invasion of 1066 French Lords were appointed to head the village, and one of these Peter de Birmingham applied for a market Charter in 1172.This aided the growth of the Town as a trading settlement. The poor roads of England and Birminghams distance from the main ports demanded that Birmingham people wouls have to limit its industrial activity to small and valuable goods. Birmingham bacame a centre of excellence for metal working in small metal goods and the Jewellery Quarter of Birmingham is still an important activity. Guns and armaments were also very important and the Gun Quarter still exists but is very small. The coming of canals saw the development of 'Birmingham Docks' around Navigation Street and across to Cambridge Street and this allowed the City to expand the quantity and size of the goods which could be made. Railways and then motorways have continued that move to diversity in the 19th and 20th Centuries respectively. In the 20th Century the motor car assembly industry and all the componant industries that support it  has continued the City's long tradition in engineering and metal working. The growth of the city came to an end in the 1990's when for the first time in a while the size of the city fell below 1 million. The reason being the movement out of the city to surrounding suburbs in Solihull and surrounding villages, facilitated by the freedom of the motor car. During the late 1990's the city has undergone a massive 'Brown Site' redevelopment called 'Heartlands'. This is an attempt to attract people back into the city and includes developments of different house styles and sizes, industrial premises, retail developments and other commercial and business premises. Birmingham City Council have spent considerable sums of money, some of its own and some from EU grants on making the city more attractive.

ISSUES (problems and solutions)
to be continued ...........