ABSTRACT
Birmingham competes in the urban race under the handicap of being the second biggest city in the country. It compares itself with the capital and finds itself, unsurprisingly, wanting. This might not be so bad were it to be placed on the Tyne, say, or even on the Mersey. But positioned 120 miles away from London, the capital is too near for Birmingham to confidently acquire the regional independence of Newcastle upon Tyne or Liverpool.
