- Shopping
- Tourism
- Business/Work
For all of these reasons there is a large variance in the Sphere of Influence as supplementary amounts of people travel to Birmingham as Commuters or tourists.
Shopping:-
Due to the recent development of the new Bullring Shopping Centre, many people will be willing to travel to shop within the 110,000 sq m of retail space and with over 140 shops within the centre, it is no reason it is one of the largest shopping malls in the country. With an average of 16.5 million people visiting each year, this particular shopping centre is the busiest in the UK. Apart from the shopping factor, it also provides an outstanding 8,000 jobs, which is a pull factor for the unemployed from outer part of the country. By drawing these extra workers in, this will increase the vehicles on the road hence, escalating the traffic congestion.
MAP SHOWING THE BULLRING’S LOCATION AND ITS SURROUNDINGS.
From this map, we can see that it is at the centre point of most major access points into the town centre. Some of these access points are:
- Broad Street (Worcester, Kidderminster, and Stourbridge)
- A467 (Smethwick)
- A34 (Walsall)
- A46 (Coventry, Warwick)
- A34 (Stratford)
- A38 (Bromsgrove, Worcester)
All of these roads will lead towards the Bullring, which encourages people to visit it, therefore increasing the traffic congestion within Birmingham. With these roads accompanying over 10 main places of commuting, it will obviously bring in large amounts of traffic congestion to Birmingham.
Tourism:-
Tourism within Birmingham is by far one of the most visited cities in the country for this purpose. Bullring, which is mentioned above, is also one of the main reasons why commuters visit the city and with its spectacular building design of Selfridges; there is no reason not to visit. Being situated in the heart of England and being the second largest city it is no wonder it is one of the most visited cities. With access to three exhibition centres, six main museums, the largest indoor sea life centre and much more it has become a talking point throughout the country and some parts of the world.
THE ICC ARENA
The map above shows the location of the ICC. This arena is located on Broad Street, which is named “Birmingham’s centre of entertainment.” By being situated in this location, it brings in commuters not only for Broad Street, but also to watch shows in the ICC. Commuters are people that are travelling in or out of cities to get to their place of interest. The ICC is positioned on Broad Street, and this is where we performed our traffic count. This specific road is known to be heavily congested on normal days, however when there is a show being presented at this arena, we can envisage the vast amount of more congestion that would have been piled on to the original amount consequently, a severely congested road.
THE NIA
The NIA is positioned amongst many main roads including:
This makes it easily accessible to the public and since it is in a prime location, many shows will take place at this venue. We can interpret from the map that the NIA is in the centre of many main roads, which circulate it. In the case of a popular show being staged at this arena, there can be an expectation of huge amounts of traffic congestion on these routes that lead into the city centre.
THE NEC ARENA
The NEC arena is in the perfect location for intentional superstars who are expecting to perform in this huge arena. The reason for this is that the NEC is a mere three miles from Birmingham International Airport and a train station. The NEC is situated alongside the M42 and near the M6, however the main concern of congestion is along the “Coventry Road”.
