City Centre Core

Birmingham city centre, known by locals as town is the business, retail and leisure hub of Birmingham, England. Following the removal of the Inner Ring Road, the city centre is newly defined as being the area within the Middle Ring Road. Birmingham City Centre is undergoing massive redevelopment with the Big City Plan. This means there are now nine emerging districts and the city centre is approximately five times bigger.

Following the removal of the Inner Ring Road, which acted as a "concrete collar" "under which pedestrians would be forced to walk through intimidating, dark and stinking underpasses" and prevented the expansion of the city centre, a massive urban regeneration project known as the Big City Plan has begun.

Running through the city centre is the Birmingham Fault, a sandstone ridge. The "High Places" document produced and published by Birmingham City Council encouraged the construction of highrise buildings on the ridge.

The city centre core is the historic heart of the city, where old and new features are juxtaposed, roughly bounded by the former Birmingham Inner Ring Road. Its pre-eminent features include: Chamberlain Square, Old Square, Victoria Square, Birmingham Town Hall, Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, Birmingham Central Library, St Philip's Cathedral, Methodist Central Hall, Victoria Law Courts and other Birmingham Law Courts.

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