Last updated: September 2024
As an industrial city under climate change, Birmingham has been confronted with multiple environmental risks such as air pollution, fluctuating precipitation and flooding (Ref 3). The Big City Plan is a 20-year city center regeneration plan to support Birmingham’s sustainable transformation, where the delivery of the Eastside City Park was prioritized (Ref 1, 2). Completed and opened to public in 2013, this first new park in Birmingham for 130 years is a linear site which connects the city center along the frontage of Millennium Point eastwards towards the Digbeth canal. (Ref 1, 4, 5). Providing 2.73 ha of urban green spaces, the multi-award winning development features more than 300 trees, a 110 meter canal water feature and a public square with 21 jet fountains, and offers “a moment of green in a journey through the city” (Ref 1, 6).
Birmingham Eastside City Park
Brummie Mummies
Overview
Nature-based solution
- Parks and urban forests
- Large urban parks or forests
Key challenges
- Climate action for adaptation, resilience and mitigation (SDG 13)
- Climate change adaptation
- Environmental quality
- Air quality improvement
- Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
- Green space creation and/or management
- Regeneration, land-use and urban development
- Conversion of former industrial areas
- Promote natural styles of landscape design for urban development
- Health and well-being (SDG 3)
- Creation of opportunities for recreation
- Enabling opportunities for physical activity
Principal problems in Functional Urban Area (FUA)
- Climate-Related Hazards
- Urban flooding (stormwater)
- Heat stress & Extreme temperatures
- Environmental Degradation
- Air pollution
- Land use and Socio-economic change
- Rapid urbanization
- Health, Well-being and Social cohesion
- Inadequate access to recreational opportunities
- Disconnection from nature
Key priorities
Climate action (adaptation and/or mitigation)
Focus
Creation of new green areas, Creation of large parks and urban and peri-urban forests
Project objectives
To support Birmingham’s continuing transformation into a world class city center including new and improved public spaces and address issues related to rapid urbanization and easier access to the city center (Ref 1, 2).
To create a key focal point for the area providing a catalyst for regeneration (Ref 2).
To transform a brownfield site into a variety of recreational spaces both formal and informal (Ref 8).
To create a pleasant and walk-able route connecting the different elements of East side to the City Core and eastwards to beyond the Middle way (Ref 2).
To address several key challenges related to climate change (enhancing the city's resilience to the impacts of climate change, including fluctuating rainfall, extreme weather and temperatures, air pollution by ensuring thermal cooling by the use of grass, shrubs and water (Ref 1, 3).
To plant a rich variety of species introducing the biodiversity in the area (Ref 7).
Implementation activities
The project, in its planning stage, selected designers through an international competition (Ref 8). Throughout the design process, there has been close consultation with local communities; stakeholders developing with the Eastside quarter , such as Birmingham City University; and those who will be responsible for the maintenance of the park (Ref 9). In total, 309 semi-mature trees were selected, and 110 metre canal water feature and a public square with 21 jet fountains were implemented (Ref 1, 6). Other specimen tree planting including the Himalayan birch with paper-like bark were included. Furthermore 18,000 shrubs sourced locally to Birmingham were planted and the team monitored the progress on these shrubs on a monthly basis to ensure that the plants were grown to specification. Soft landscaping works were completed with the installation of 5,000m2 of hardwearing turf (Ref 6). For the implementation of the grey infrastructure materials were sourced locally and a waste neutral policy was adopted by engineers Arup. For security reasons, CCTV and round-the-clock lighting were provided. (6,8)
Climate-focused activities
Climate change adaptation:
- Increase urban vegetation cover to reduce urban heat island effect
Main beneficiaries
- Local government/Municipality
- Public sector institution (e.g. school or hospital)
- Private sector/Corporate/Company
- Researchers/University
- Citizens or community groups
- Young people and children
- Marginalized groups: Children, young people or youth groups
Governance
Management set-up
- Government-led
Type of initiating organisation
- Local government/municipality
Participatory approaches/ community involvement
- Co-planning (e.g. stakeholder workshops, focus groups, participatory mapping)
- Taskforce groups
- Consultation (e.g. workshop, surveys, community meetings, town halls)
- Joint implementation (e.g. tree planting)
Details on the roles of the organisations involved in the project
- The Eastside City Park in Birmingham was initiated and mostly funded by Birmingham City Council, with land acquisition partly funded by the European Regional Development Fund (Ref 1, 6). Design architectural practice Patel Taylor, working with landscape architect Allain Provost for the park (Ref 1).
- Several private companies were involved in the construction. For example, idverde was appointed under the Birmingham Partnership Scheme 2011 to undertake the soft landscaping works and street furniture installation (Ref 6). Landscaping company ALD was brought in to assist Patel Taylor in the softworks design and site supervision to completion and ongoing maintenance advice (Ref 4).
- Meetings with local communities, the Birmingham Science Museum and Birmingham City University (Ref 6, 7).
Project implemented in response to ...
... an EU policy or strategy?
Unknown
... a national policy or strategy?
Unknown
... a local policy or strategy?
Yes
(The Eastside City Park sits within Birmingham's Big City Plan, the 20-year City Centre Masterplan to support Birmingham’s continuing transformation into a world class city centre including new and improved public spaces (Ref 1, 2).)
Type of enablers
Governance innovations (such as public private partnerships), Support from transitional governance actors
Financing
Total cost
More than €4,000,000
Source(s) of funding
- Public local authority budget
- EU funds
Type of funding
- Earmarked public budget
- Direct funding (grants, subsidies, or self-financed projects by private entities)
Non-financial contribution
Unknown
Impacts and Monitoring
Environmental impacts
- Climate change
- Lowered local temperature
- Expected lowered local temperature
- Green space and habitat
- Increased green space area
- Achieved increased green space area
- Increased number of species present
- Achieved increased number of species present
Economic impacts
- Increase of green jobs (e.g. paid employment positions)
- Achieved increase of green jobs (e.g. paid employment positions)
- Reduce financial cost for urban management
- Achieved reduce financial cost for urban management
- Attraction of business and investment
- Expected attraction of business and investment
Socio-cultural impacts
- Social justice and cohesion
- Improved liveability
- Achieved improved liveability
- Improved access to urban green space
- Achieved improved access to urban green space
- Increased involvement of locals in the management of green spaces
- Achieved increased involvement of locals in the management of green spaces
- Health and wellbeing
- Gain in activities for recreation and exercise
- Expected gain in activities for recreation and exercise
- Enhanced cognitive restoration, relaxation and stress relief
- Expected enhanced cognitive restoration, relaxation and stress relief
- Cultural heritage and sense of place
- Improvement in people’s connection to nature
- Achieved improvement in people’s connection to nature
- Increased appreciation for natural spaces
- Achieved increased appreciation for natural spaces
Type of reported impacts
Presence of formal monitoring system
Unknown
Presence of indicators used in reporting
No evidence in public records
Presence of monitoring/ evaluation reports
No evidence in public records
Availability of a web-based monitoring tool
No evidence in public records
Potential risks of implementation and trade-offs
Unknown
References
1.
Birmingham City Council (n.d.). Eastside City Park. Birmingham: Birmingham City Council, Accessed on August 14, 2024, [Source link];
2.
Birmingham City Council (2011). Birmingham Big City Plan: City Centre Masterplan. Birmingham: Birmingham City Council, p. 45-51 Accessed on August 14, 2024, [Source link];
3.
Birmingham City Council (2022). What does Climate Change mean for Birmingham. Birmingham: Birmingham City Council, Accessed on August 14, 2024, [Source link];
4.
ALD (n.d.). Eastside City Park, Birmingham. ALD, Accessed on August 14, 2024, [Source link];
5.
ArchDaily (2015). Eastside City Park / Patel Taylor. ArchDaily, Accessed on August 14, 2024, [Source link];
6.
idverde (n.d.). Eastside City Park, Birmingham. ideverde, Accessed on August 14, 2024, [Source link];
7.
Olcayto R. (2013). A clear way forward: Eastside City Park by Patel Taylor. Architects' Journal, Accessed on August 14, 2024, [Source link];
8.
Patel Taylor (n.d.). Eastside City Park. Patel Taylor, Accessed on August 14, 2024, [Source link];
9.
Archello (n.d.). East Side City Park. Archello, Accessed on August 14, 2024, [Source link];
10.
ONS (2023). 2021 Census Profile for areas in Birmingham Local Authority, England Country and E00175614 Output Area. ONS, Accessed on August 14, 2024, [Source link];
11.
Building Centre (2014). Eastside City Park. Building Centre, Accessed on August 14, 2024, [Source link];
Birmingham Eastside City Park
Brummie Mummies
Information about this nature-based solution was collected as part of the Naturescapes project funded by the European Union under Grant Agreement No 101084341.