Context for this Legacy Plan

In 2022, our city will stage a celebration of culture, sport and unity. A bold and diverse Birmingham will flourish on the world stage, reflecting on the strength and resilience of the people that make the city’s neighbourhoods and communities truly great. The Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games provides a platform to showcase and propel the very best of the people who make our city the beating heart of this country.

As the Host City, Birmingham City Council (the council) is playing a central role in ensuring all residents and communities of Birmingham have the opportunity to embrace the Games and realise its long-term benefits, just as we have seen other host cities across the world prosper. Birmingham’s legacy will be realised in three ways:

  • Physical assets ranging from new facilities to enhanced infrastructure alongside better, more sustainable public spaces;
  • Community, social and economic opportunities such as increased access to and availability of apprenticeships leading to a better skilled workforce, as well as thousands of volunteering roles that will build capacity for future events;
  • Organisational change on the part of the council through enhanced city and regional partnerships, as well as innovative practice.

Preparations for the Games proceed against a backdrop of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. We’ve seen the very best of our brilliant and bold city, with families pulling together, neighbours looking out for each other and communities showing real strength and spirit. We feel it is incredibly important that the city’s residents are given the chance to celebrate the Games, our history, heritage, diversity and everything that make Birmingham unique.

This Birmingham City Council Legacy Plan provides a strategy and detailed plan to capture the benefits of hosting this world class event while supporting the acceleration of the city council’s ambitions to respond to the city’s challenges as enshrined in our Corporate Plan.

For too many, the opportunities in the city are out of reach. There is also increasing pressure on public services and driving up of costs. Tackling inequalities is therefore at the heart of our city mission and at the centre of everything we do.

All of our work, including, the response to hosting the Games will focus on responding to the main challenges that the city faces:

  1. Employment, Skills and the Local Economy
  2. Opportunities for Children and Young People
  3. Health and Wellbeing
  4. Community Resilience and Cohesion
  5. The Climate Emergency