The Midlands Engine is the strong narrative that industry needs

Economic growth increasingly relies on a strong and engaging narrative to underpin long term planning and delivery. The Midlands Engine, through its vision for growth, is key to providing this, and thus boosting confidence in both east and west Midlands as a place to do business.

That’s why we’re really pleased to be involved with the Midlands Development Conference, the first Built Environment Networking event that brings the east and west Midlands into focus, at such an important time to galvanise momentum and delivery across the entire region that makes up the ‘Midlands Engine’. [emaillocker id=”71749″]

Momentum building

Why is this such an important year? This year will see milestones on HS2, the establishment of the East Midlands Development Corporation, the launch of the West Midlands Local Industrial Strategy, the development of 5G, ongoing testing connected and autonomous vehicles and ongoing pressure to deliver more housing.

Eyes will be on the region – and industry – to deliver ahead of the 2022 Commonwealth Games, and Coventry’s year as the City of Culture in 2021.

These are transformational events that focus minds on development, and act as buffers against macro-economic uncertainties. From Toton to Coventry, and the Mid Marches to Lincoln they give confidence to developers that the Midlands is a place to invest in.

The region will be in the spotlight as these major events help to promote the region as a recognised identity on a global stage, whilst providing good jobs for local people. There is simply no choice but to be ready.

Translating momentum into delivering a future-ready Midlands

As the Midland Engine continues to attract investment and becomes a magnet for growth opportunities, it’s critical that the built environment brings collaborative, joined-up thinking as we shape places in the region for years to come.

One way we’re adapting at WSP is by bringing together over 700 engineers, planners, technical specialists, into our new Birmingham office, our flagship office in the Midlands region. Retention of graduates and increasing apprenticeships is key to the region’s ambitions, and our 68 graduates and 32 apprentices contribute a great deal to WSP’s energy and dynamism. Investing in this new space is a signal of our confidence in the Midlands. The high quality, flexible space is already helping to drive productivity and collaboration where our teams and clients can come together to deliver major projects, such as HS2’s Curzon Street station.

With offices in Derby, Northampton, Shrewsbury, and long term project offices in Hereford and Lincoln, we’re well-placed to deliver across the core challenges we see.

Accelerating housing delivery, whilst shaping Future Ready places

As the region becomes a beacon for those seeking to match great opportunity with great quality of life, how can we meet the Midlands Engine’s target of 600,000 new homes in the next 15 years to keep up with demand?

New innovations with data which help to speed up the site search process and provide greater early certainty to developers will be crucial. Bringing offsite and modular construction methods across every step of the project lifecycle – from programme planning to the logistics of site access. The prize will be faster, safer, more sustainable and cost-effective construction.

But it’s not all purely about speed: changes in the way we live in future have an impact on the way we design homes and communities now. How should neighbourhoods be designed if future cars are electric, or autonomous? How do we stop homes overheating? What are alternatives to gas heating? How can design combat increasing loneliness and health issues?

With so many of these drivers of change to consider, it’s important to make sure the homes and communities we’re building are ‘Future Ready’, as we’re doing in developments such as the 6,000-home Langley sustainable urban extension. We analyse the potential benefits of new trends systematically, in line with impact on safety, sustainability, human experience, excellence in delivery and operations, as well as design and aesthetics.

Density will be an ongoing driver – where opportunities to intensify urban centres around transport hubs is a big opportunity in the Midlands, given the investment driven by HS2 and the Midlands Rail Hub. Our analysis in Manchester found that if all Manchester stations were densified in line with UN Habitat recommendations of 150 people per hectare, an extra 225,000 new homes could be delivered. Applying this thinking could help to re-imagine town centres across the Midlands as destinations, as well as maximise existing rail infrastructure enabling better connectivity between urban culture, employment, health and education.

Connectivity benefits not just the Midlands, but the whole of UK plc

The Midlands is the heart of the UK’s transport network. The success of the Midlands’ network has major implications for the productivity and growth of every region which surrounds it, including international gateways. It is the heart of the UK’s traditional ‘golden triangle’ of logistics and freight, crucial to how the UK’s goods move efficiently in response to consumer demand.

Nowadays, more than ever is expected of every transport and infrastructure investment; not just to cut travel times, but to unlock new homes, jobs, improve quality of life and make the population healthier.

Through our relationship with Midlands Connect, we are working strategically to provide the evidence base for transformational connections across the entire east and west Midlands, and including the surrounding rural shires and Marches region. We’ve undertaken major studies including; the development of the Midlands Major Road Network, on the A46 – an important cross-country trade corridor, as well as examining how light rail could be implemented in Coventry. Our work on the M6 J3-11 will help to manage demand and assess operational efficiency to make vital improvements to the heavily constrained ‘Birmingham box’ motorway sections, and we’re investigating strategic park and ride schemes to ease pressure on roads.

Amongst this vital need for the Midlands to be an “engine for UK growth”, we’re also on the cusp of a transport revolution. The modes of travel we’re familiar with are facing competition from a wave of new, disruptive mobility services that we’ll engage with and pay for in new ways. How we travel, how goods are delivered and possibly even when and where we work will all be affected. At WSP, we are constantly analysing future mobility trends and helping both public and private sector navigate this complex future. Our evidence-based approach helps client understand what new models of mobility will mean in practical, deliverable terms; a ‘future ready’ approach that helps navigate the risk and hype surrounding new mobility.

Decarbonising transport through innovation

In January, Defra published its Clean Air Strategy, which claimed that greenhouse gas emissions from transportation in the UK now exceeded those produced by energy generation. It’s an alarming statistic for anyone involved in the transport sector. Decarbonisation across all modes is now an urgent priority for policy-makers at all levels. The immediate air quality challenge is to reduce emissions of poisonous nitrous oxide in urban areas where safe levels are being exceeded, and the Government has also set out the trajectory towards eliminating all tailpipe emissions in its Road to Zero document.

WSP is supporting the Midlands Engine’s ambition to be at the forefront of next generation transport technologies, driven by the need to decarbonise transport whilst stealing a march as a leader in the testing, roll out and manufacturing of new types of automotive vehicles. We’re working with Transport for West Midlands to develop the first ‘at scale’ connected and autonomous vehicle corridor test bed between Coventry and Birmingham. We’re also advising on Mobility 2022, a globally significant new mobility service demonstrator.

As you can see, there is so much momentum building in the region. But the future potential as it becomes a globally recognised hub is huge, with major benefits to UK plc if it succeeds. We’re proud to be making our contribution, and look forward to making new connections at the event.

Join us at our Midlands Development Conference > https://www.built-environment-networking.com/event/midlands-development-conference/

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