The importance of place
Even in a world of global connectivity, the places where we live, work and play are vital to our quality of life. The West Midlands is a diverse region encompassing vibrant city centres, historic towns with their rich industrial and cultural heritage, large residential neighbourhoods and commercial estates, and scenic parks, waterways and countryside. Not only do our places tell a story about our past and our identity, they are the canvas upon which we shape the future.
Certain places become hubs for business activity and innovation. Infrastructure investment can transform places, attracting investment, creating jobs and wider multiplier effects. And housing development is essential for attracting and retaining the people upon which our economy depends. Our economic strength as a region rests on our ability to realise the complementary strengths and roles of our cities and boroughs, as a powerful, polycentric collective. Connecting our boroughs to our cities and cities to each other, in particular by an accessible public transport system, is key to realising all the strengths of our polycentric geography.
Over the past year there have been a number of developments that have galvanised our attention to place in the West Midlands. Our local authorities have each begun to develop Place-Based Strategies, which set out where they see particular opportunities for investment and growth. Place-Based Strategies combine major capital investment opportunities – including in transport, housing and commercial sites – with more local economic development opportunities such as the transformation of high streets and town centres. Place-making is at the heart of our West Midlands approach.
Given the critical role of housing in driving economic growth, alongside these Place-Based Strategies, the West Midlands has a pipeline of major housing projects which is the focus for public investment and the basis for a more strategic relationship between the WMCA and Homes England in which the mayor will take a greater role in directing investment.
There has been a review of our major transport infrastructure investment priorities and we have begun to identify a series of major capital investment opportunities, starting with our 3 major Investment Zone sites.
As we look to the future, this focus on place will only increase, not least as we escalate our work to drive forward key development sites and with the development of a new Spatial Development Strategy.