ABSTRACT
The West Midlands region has a reputation of bustling towns and cities mixed with rural tranquility and has traditionally been seen as the industrial heart of the UK, being the birthplace of the industrial revolution (at Coalbrookdale). The metropolitan area, composed of six unitary authorities (including Birmingham), is the main center of population and employment (see Figure 13.1) at the crossroads of the national motorway network and the railway network (see Figures 13.6 and 13.8). The West Midlands, or Birmingham region, 1995 https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780203857779/c4c0aed9-0e14-422a-be66-e785cb5830b5/content/fig13_1_C.jpg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/> The location of the West Midlands https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780203857779/c4c0aed9-0e14-422a-be66-e785cb5830b5/content/fig13_2_C.jpg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/> Economie patterns in the West Midlands https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780203857779/c4c0aed9-0e14-422a-be66-e785cb5830b5/content/fig13_3_C.jpg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/> Residences of the wealthiest 20 percent and the poorest 20 percent https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780203857779/c4c0aed9-0e14-422a-be66-e785cb5830b5/content/fig13_4_C.jpg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/> Main roads in the West Midlands, 1967 https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780203857779/c4c0aed9-0e14-422a-be66-e785cb5830b5/content/fig13_5_C.jpg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/> Main roads in the West Midlands, 1995 https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780203857779/c4c0aed9-0e14-422a-be66-e785cb5830b5/content/fig13_6_C.jpg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/> Railways in the West Midlands, 1967 https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780203857779/c4c0aed9-0e14-422a-be66-e785cb5830b5/content/fig13_7_C.jpg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/> Railways in the West Midlands, 1995 https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780203857779/c4c0aed9-0e14-422a-be66-e785cb5830b5/content/fig13_8_C.jpg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/>
