A EUROPE OF REGIONS - THE WEST MIDLANDS OF ENGLAND - PLANNING FOR METROPOLITAN CHANGE IN BIRMINGHAM

In 1992, western Europe's markets will expand with the creation of a unified market. The political shifts in eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union may further alter conditions. Cities like Birmingham will undergo social and economic reorganization as its sphere of influence changes. In this expanding context, there is growing competition between the nuclear perspective of present planning, and the reality of polynuclear expansion, propelled by market forces, without benefit of anything resembling strategic thinking at the regional and inter regional scale. Although there is some interagency cooperation leading to strategic guidance for matters needing immediate resolution, there is a need for more fundamental dialogue which might lead to a reevaluation of metropolitan and regional structure.