Readings - David Parker and Paul Long (Week 7)

Birmingham skyline

The Parker and Long reading, '"The mistakes of the past? 'Visual narratives of urban declines and regeneration," highlights the rebuilding and rebirth of Birmingham after the war, depicting how these changes affect its identity. 

As "England's second city," Birmingham is very culturally important and is now a major international commercial centre. Parker and Long explain how visions of Birmingham "define the degree of modernisation," with, "buildings imagined through words and images before they are constructed in bricks and mortar." 

Buildings such as the Bullring, the Post Office Tower and the Rotunda are symbolic to Birmingham and create the skyline that is recognisable to people. They describe the skyline as being a, "visual signature of it's identity, in which economic, social and aesthetic meanings are signified. 

This creates a "social imaginary" which embodies ideas, knowledges, images and symbols that make sense of social practices. Parker and Long portray the post-war "transparent image of the city" as supporting personal growth and generating raw materials for personal memories. 

However, post-war decline is said to have been, "powerfully expressed through visual imagery" of the city, bringing upon many negative views of what the city stood for. The Lonely Planet Guide put across the view that Birmingham was, "Surrounded by sprawling motorways, bisected by canals and punctuated by modern shopping centres," describing it as, "a concrete maze."

A BBC documentary broadcast in 1964, ('The Rape of Utopia') further depicts the post-war city as having no interest in what society wanted, and instead focused on organisational priorities e.g. subways. Prince Charles commented on the city itself exclaiming that it had been, "replaced with lumps of featureless concrete." The Victorian buildings were no more, and instead, emotionless buildings replaced them. 

Since, photographers (Tom Merilion/John Davis) have tried to encapsulate the people and memories of "this passing place," through a series of black and white pictures. These reinforce the post-war negative images of the city through local eyes, showing memories that still remain and those that have been lost. 

Parker and Long explain how the now "new image" of the city shows quality of architecture, for example, Selfridges, which has now become the new official image of Birmingham. Nevertheless, the reading ends on quite a negative note with the scholars saying how the identity and the past is not a focus anymore and it is more about showcasing.