The Richard Spooner Column: Caring for the Victorian legacy�

To be fair, you have to hand it to the Victorians. Despite all of the poverty and deprivations which prevailed in those times, they knew how to plan a city.

Take Birmingham and London. They are rich with magnificent parks that have been carefully maintained to ensure they remain the “lungs ” of two great urban spreads.

It 's now reassuring that institutions in Birmingham are taking it upon themselves to ensure that this careful planning hundreds of years ago is now being taken forward in our city. There is a long way to go but the Council 's Transport Plan is a case in point.

It has the laudable motive making our city greener but care must be taken that businesses within its boundaries can survive and flourish.

For anyone who wants to learn about Birmingham 's parks history, I recommend local historian Carl Chinn 's Free Parks for the People: A History of Birmingham's Municipal Parks 1844-1974 (Brewin Books)

Carl recognises that Birmingham is blessed with a large extent of parkland and recreation grounds that find its origins in the mid-19th Century.

The earliest parkland provided was just outside the Birmingham local government boundaries, including Adderley Park [1856], Calthorpe Park [1857] and Aston Park [1858].

It 's reassuring to know that today we have groups who are interested in preserving that quality the Victorians strove for.

One of them is Colmore Business Improvement District (Colmore BID), which has set out an ambitious vision for their city centre business district following a nine-month research study into the impact of the pandemic.

Among 30 propositions, it calls for the appointment of a 'Curator General ' to act as creative director for the city centre, to shape open spaces and attract new investors and professionals.

The Future Business District Study was commissioned by Colmore BID with support from Birmingham City Council, West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership (GBSLEP), MEPC and Balfour Beatty along with city centre BID partners JQ, Southside, Retail and Westside.

It set out to address two questions:

• What is the likely long-term impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on city centre business districts?
• How can we ensure they remain successful as places to attract businesses and people and contribute to vibrant city centres?

Research was undertaken by City-REDI | WMREDI at the University of Birmingham working with the Office of Data Analytics at WMCA and supported by UKRI.

The report 's authors say three drivers must now be at the centre of making business districts fit for the future: “curation, collaboration and connections. ”

It all sounds extremely academic but you get the message, | 'm sure. As a result Colmore BID has launched The Space Between, where it says the business quarter will continue to thrive by: “curating The Space Between that gives Colmore life and makes it attractive to businesses, professionals and visitors. ”

Splendid news�