Opinion: Opinion – Be Bold, Birmingham!

Filed under: Be Bold, Birmingham / Opinions

The 2022 Commonwealth Games were fantastic; the atmosphere around the city (and region) was amazing, the sport was enjoyable, the transport network worked brilliantly. If there was one mis-step, however, it was the marketing strapline “Be Bold, Be Birmingham”.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great concept. The problem is that Birmingham hasn’t been bold in a long time. As I made clear in my review of the Birmingham Transport Summit, if that plan is delivered, that will truly be bold. But two years ago? No, sorry.

I have been using the phrase Be Bold, Birmingham since then, to make it clear that the council need to take bold action, not just talk about it. As I don’t like to just criticise from the sidelines, I plan to write a series of articles outlining some bold ideas I’d love to see implemented. As ever, consider these conversation starters. I don’t imagine that everything I propose is the best solution, there may be good reasons why an idea isn’t feasible. But I refuse to buy the negative view that this city is unchangeable.

We can choose to live in a better city!

• Close the A38 tunnels
• A new city centre, for a new era

Better Streets for Birmingham

Better Streets for Birmingham is a community group which campaigns for changes to our travel and planning infrastructure to improve the sustainability, efficiency and safety of our streets. We believe that through connecting Birmingham to reduce car dependency, we will make it a more pleasant place to work, live and play.