The International Conference Centre in Birmingham - Coursework Example

Running Head: PORTSMOUTH CONFERENCE CENTRE Portsmouth Conference Centre The of Portsmouth has embarked on various regeneration projectsto bring about urban renaissance as a means of contributing to the resolution of urban problems of poverty, unemployment, poor education, and housing. This paper takes a look at these regeneration projects in a broad sense and in particular, the city centre redevelopment projects in the Northern Quarter. This includes a proposal for building a purpose-built conference centre on the Tricorn estate similar to that of The International Conference Centre in Birmingham. The paper briefly delves on the impact of city centre redevelopment on the city of Portsmouth compared with a previous study on the impact of the Gunwharf development at Portsmouth Harbour as well as the impact of the Birmingham city centre redevelopment, focusing on the ICC, on the city of Birmingham. It ends with an optimistic recommendation supporting the pursuit of city centre redevelopment, as well as building of the Portsmouth Purpose-Built Conference Centre based on the limited research conducted. Portsmouth Conference Centre City of Portsmouth The city of Portsmouth, located in the county of Hampshire has a population nearing 190,000. It is the only city in England with a greater population density than inner London. Portsmouth is famous for its naval heritage and harbour. It has been a significant naval port for centuries and is home to the world’s oldest dry dock which is still in use today. It is one of the largest freight and ferry ports in the United Kingdom. A significant portion of the citys workforce works at Portsmouth Naval Dockyard, which during WWI was the largest industrial site in the world. According to the Portsmouth City Council, there are 97,200 jobs in the city, of which 35,000 are part time. As of April 2006, unemployment rate is at 2.5%, and average household income is £25,700. Portsmouth has been awarded ‘Tourist City of the Year’ with over £302 million income from 8.4 million visitors per year. The city of Portsmouth is a prime location for industry, commerce, leisure and pleasure, according to the Council, evidence by over 6,000 businesses including leading edge companies such as EADS Astrium, IBM UK, Pall Europe and McLaren Composites which have established bases in Portsmouth. (Portsmouth 2008) “The housing boom has also spurned economic growth with prices rising at a speed second only to London.” (Portsmouth Wiki 2008). Portsmouth City Centre Redevelopment The Portsmouth City Local Plan 2001-2011 has been prepared as the local development plan covering the whole of the Portsmouth City Council administrative area, under the provisions of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. The Plan is the basis for various regeneration projects being undertaken with the objective of fulfilling the “Vision for Portsmouth”, through the following core strategies: 1) improve achievement in education, skills and lifelong learning; 2) Develop affordable and accessible transport; 3) Promote Portsmouth as a city of ideas, with a strong economy and opportunities for everyone; 4) Develop affordable, quality housing and communities that meet local needs; 5) Encourage and enable healthy choices for all and provide appropriate access to health care and support; 6) Enhance Portsmouth’s reputation as a city of energy and passion, offering access for all to arts, sports and leisure; 7) Make our city cleaner, safer and greener – protecting the environment for future generations; 8) Celebrate the many different communities within Portsmouth and work together to create a city for everyone; and 9) Protect our more vulnerable residents by shaping public services to meet their needs. (Portsmouth 2008) Regeneration along the waterfront has already transformed the city into a leisure destination with the transformation of Portsmouth harbour into a “multi-million pound ‘festival marketplace’.” (Cook 2004) The biggest regeneration project is the redevelopment of the city centre, a £500 million project expected to be completed in 2011. This project in the Northern Quarter centered on the former Tricorn site, and the Commercial Road area is aimed at complementing the shopping areas in Southsea and Gunwharf Quays. The development will also be integrated into an improved Commercial Road to create a safe and welcoming centre with new street furniture, lighting and landscaping. To the south, buses will move to Station Street to make room for the ever-popular city centre market, which will be given its own permanent space in a purpose-built environment within Edinburgh Road. To the north, new bus stops will be created between Sainsburys and the Northern Quarter development. A redeveloped road system will also simplify routes for traffic coming into the city. Work already done includes: 1) improvements for pedestrians around the Portsmouth and Southsea station, 2) a taxi rank outside the new Liquid & Envy club in the Drill Hall, Stanhope Road, that will help to make the city centre a more vibrant but safe place to be at night, 3) improvements to the roundabout linking Edinburgh Road, Stanhope Road and Unicorn Road, making it safer and more welcoming for pedestrians. The main construction phase is set to create up to 4,000 jobs with a further 2,500 jobs available once the development is open. A range of training schemes are planned to ensure local people have the right skills to secure these jobs. (Portsmouth 2008) One of the redevelopment projects being proposed for the city centre is building a purpose-built conference centre on the Tricorn estate. Such Centre shall be modeled on the International Conference Centre in Birmingham, which has 11 halls and 10 executive meeting rooms and is capable of accommodating over 8,000 people. The ICC, Birmingham is a £180 million facility intended to provide the best purpose-built convention centre in Europe and one of the best concert halls in the world. It was opened in April 1991 and initiated the regeneration of Broad Street with three other Birmingham flagship developments. According to the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the success of the ICC is due to the City’s strategic vision in developing the area as a whole, rather than isolated developments, as well as in generating civic pride and local support. The ICC has put Birmingham on the world map for exhibition and conference activities. (BCCI 2007) Impact on City of Portsmouth The regeneration projects for the City of Portsmouth pose challenges to the city council. One is sustaining the momentum for regeneration, the other is to ensure equitable distribution of benefits to city residents. Redevelopment of the city centre is meant to diversify the economy, promote a vibrant city life in the Northern Quarter complementing that at the waterfront and create a good number of new employment opportunities. It is worth looking into previous redevelopment projects in Portsmouth and their effects on the affected communities to help determine how a Porstmouth Purpose-Built Conference Centre might fare in the Northern Quarter. It would also help to check how the International Convention Centre impacted Birmingham. According to a study made by I. Cook on the Gunwharf development, the Portsmouth Harbour urban renaissance project, particularly on Gunwharf Quays was spurred by the naval and dockyard decline of the Gunwharf and Portsea areas. Cook is skeptical that the jobs created by the Gunwharf development actually benefited those from the area, arguing that residents of the harbour communities had low educational attainments and a disproportionate number of them had learning difficulties. He goes on to suggest that Gunwharf’s development was unable to quantitatively “create a true economic ‘renaissance’ for the people who need it the most.” Moreover, Cook adds that the retail outlets at Gunwharf do not benefit residents as these are beyond their economic means but are only for the consumption of middle-class commuters and tourists. Cook concludes that the Gunwharf development cannot be viewed as a basis for economic regeneration because it does not lead to resolution of urban problems of “poverty, economic and social polarization, high unemployment, under-investment, dilapidated housing and high council house waiting lists.” (Cook 2004) Looking at the impact of the ICC on Birmingham on the other hand, the University of Birmingham’s Centre for Urban and Regional Studies, in a report says that the “ICC has played a catalytic role in the slow but accelerating emergence of a diverse, dynamic and attractive city centre worthy of a major conurbation.” It says that the ICC has generated potent interaction which has contributed to the “economic dynamism of a city centre and its wider region" thereby bringing about the city centres economic and physical transformation. The report goes on to say that the ICC experience points to the importance of continued strategic investment to maintain the momentum and the “sense of confidence which The ICC and the Convention Quarter development have generated amongst investors, businesses, and residents." Since it opened, the ICC has attracted more than 1.5 million people and in a 1999 study, “The ICC, Symphony Hall and The NIA generated £97 million of expenditure and supported 3,276 jobs in a 12 month period.” (Barber 2001) “The transformation of Birmingham’s city centre since the early 1990s has been one of the most high profile and commented upon cases of urban regeneration in Britain and Europe.” Birmingham was conferred Beacon Council for Town Centre Regeneration in by the UK government in 2001. However, Birmingham’s city centre regeneration had its own share of criticisms and controversies especially regarding its claimed benefits on “the extent and quality of new employment creation, and the degree to which the new economic activity benefited the city’s more deprived communities.” According to the BCCI, the most important issue in this respect is timescale. The strategy requires several years to take hold and begin delivering the impacts. “A short-term perspective on the part of critics or boosters does not provide a fair or helpful picture of a policy’s value for the city and its residents.” (BCCI 2007) Recommendation As in the Birmingham experience, this author dares recommend the continued and vigorous pursuit of Portsmouth’s regeneration projects including the building of a Portsmouth Purpose-Built Conference Centre similar to that of the ICC at Birmingham. Such Portsmouth Centre should also aim to position Portsmouth as an international conference venue in the South of England, the area having no other similar class venues. City centre redevelopment has already showed its initial contributions in boosting the tourism section, increasing the volume of visitors to the city and will improve Portsmouth’s position relative to other British cities. The growth of tourism not only increases revenues from visitor spending but spurs the creation of more retail businesses which improves employment opportunities for residents of the city and outlying areas. Along with the other regeneration projects, success will encourage more private sector investment for housing, education, health care, and of course, more commercial activities. Such investments will generate employment with a wide variety of jobs, from professional and managerial positions to “entry-level” construction, retailing and hospitality, thereby creating opportunities not only for the well educated but also for those with limited qualifications and experience in the labour market. Prevalent observations show that there is a need to match qualifications of residents to new employment opportunities and needs; otherwise these jobs will only be taken up by in-commuters to Portsmouth. This is one big challenge that must be timely addressed by the Children, Families and Learning Directorate. New jobs must be actively promoted and must be made known even to members of the deprived communities to get individuals to register their interest and to access relevant training and preparation for the job application process, which the Learning Directorate must provide. “By 2026, the vision for Portsmouth is to 1) maximise the city’s economic potential, providing jobs, services and homes for current and future generations; 2) make Portsmouth a focal point for south Hampshire; 3) create a waterfront city that is safe, attractive, more sustainable, more accessible, more prosperous and vibrant - a place where people want to live, work or visit.” (Portsmouth 2008) Nobody can possibly disagree with this vision, but it will take the dedicated efforts, and commitment of all concerned to make it happen. Reference List Barber, A. 2001. “The ICC, Birmingham: A Catalyst for Urban Renaissance.” University of Birmingham, Centre for Urban and Regional Studies. Retrieved May 14, 2008 from http://www.necgroup.co.uk/media/PressRelease.asp?i=148 Birmingham Chamber of Commerce & Industry (BCCI). 2007. “Birmingham.” Retrieved May 14, 2008 from http://www.bci.org.uk/getdoc/929db89a-fe33-45a4-af3f-e2b78db24a9e/Tales-of-the-Cities-Birmingham.aspx Cook, I. July 2004. “Waterfront Regeneration, Gentrification and the Entrepreneurial State: The Redevelopment of Gunwharf Quays, Portsmouth.” SPA Working Paper 51. School of Geography, University of Manchester, Manchester. Portsmouth City Council. 2008. “Portsmouth City Council online.” Retrieved May 14, 2008 from http://www.portsmouth.gov.uk/index.html Wikipedia. 2008. “Portsmouth.” Retrieved May 14, 2008 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portsmouth Read More