Balsall\nHeath is an inner-city, predominantly working class area of Birmingham. It is incredibly\ndiverse, being the central location of the Balti Triangle (a cultural landmark\nglorifying the balti restaurants along three roads within Balsall Heath). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Historically\nthe area has undergone a number of industrial and urban shifts. In the\nnineteenth century, the area was predominantly agricultural. It then experienced\na significant border shift, moving the area from the county of Worcestershire\nto Birmingham.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The local\narea has a number of notable landmarks. For example the Balsall Heath baths,\nwhich opened up in 1907; Ladypool Road, named after a small lake that was filled\nin to create a park in 1900; and the former Balsall Heath Carlton Cinema which\nnow functions as a car park. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
During the nineteenth century, Balsall Heath\nhad a reasonably affluent population, demonstrable within the grandeur of some\nof the larger houses along Clifton Road. At the same time, the development of a\nlarge railway station on Brighton Road led to further expansion of the town, resulting\nin the end of the 19th century seeing a proliferation of high-density terraced\nhouses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fast forward\nto the 1980s, the local council had embarked on an urban renewal project which\ninvolved regenerating the Victorian housing in the area, adding indoor toilets and\ncentral heating. Social housing also emerged which provides the area with is\ncharacteristic juxtapositioning of older and newer buildings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\n1990s brought about a change in the local demographic – which in turn had been predominantly\nlocal, working class and diverse – with a number of young, transient university\nstudents choosing to reside in the area. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In July 2005, Balsall Heath was hit by a tornado, which devastated many buildings\naround Church Road and Ladypool Road. Birmingham City Council offered loans to\nthose who would otherwise be unable to repair their properties, and the area\nhas now made a full recovery. However, the link between the tornado and climate\nchange sparked off a number of community-led responses, most notably in the form\nof Balsall Heath is Our Planet, a community\ninitiative that aims to reduce the environmental impact of our inner\ncity neighbourhood<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Balsall Heath and the wider Birmingham area is\nintrinsically linked to energy consumption. The surrounding areas of Derbyshire\nand Nottinghamshire still contain active coalfields, which in turn are\npreserved through an affiliated research organisation and a historical society.\nAt its peak, Birmingham had around 170 miles of waterways and canals, this has\nreduced to around 35 miles (still larger than the amount in Venice). During\nthe Industrial Revolution the canals were busy waterways transporting coal,\niron and other heavy goods. They in turn played a crucial role in the\ndevelopment of Birmingham and the Black Country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nowadays, community organisations within\nBalsall Heath have taken ownership of their relationship with local sources of\nenergy. Organisations are working together to address some of the key issues\nwithin the area through re-thinking how they use energy. For example, tackling\nunemployment by training individuals to install solar and water panels;\nencouraging schools to become areas of environmental best practise to set an example\nfor future generations; as well as a successful campaign to re-open the Balsall\nHeath to Kings Norton railway line in order to address current car use. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Given its diverse and resilience local population, and the area\u2019s close brushes with the negative impact of climate change, as well as its long and multifaceted relationship to energy consumption, Balsall Heath proved to be a good match with the premise of the research. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/energytechnologies.climateactionchildhood.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/01\/Moseley-Road-Baths-1024x538.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/li>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/energytechnologies.climateactionchildhood.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/01\/balti-triangle.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/li>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/energytechnologies.climateactionchildhood.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/01\/carlton1970sweb.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Balsall Heath is an inner-city, predominantly working class area of Birmingham. It is incredibly diverse, being the central location of the Balti Triangle (a cultural landmark glorifying the balti restaurants along three roads within Balsall Heath). Historically the area has undergone a number of industrial and urban shifts. In the nineteenth century, the area was … <\/p>\n