What will Birmingham look like in 2050?
A greener, smarter city? A global cultural powerhouse? Or something entirely unexpected?
There is still time to shape the answer…
A bold city-wide campaign is inviting people across the region to put forward their ideas, creativity and imagination before entries close — helping define what Birmingham could become over the next 25 years.
Birmingham 2050 is inviting people across the region to imagine the future and submit their creative vision before entries close on 17 July.
A city-wide call to create
Birmingham 2050 is a creative challenge open to everyone. Whether you’re an artist, student, entrepreneur, writer, designer or simply passionate about the city, this is your chance to share your vision for Birmingham in 2050.
The campaign welcomes submissions across a wide range of formats, including visual art, poetry, music, film and digital design. The brief is intentionally open: think big, be bold, and imagine what Birmingham could become over the next 25 years.
To hear more about the initiative, watch the Instagram interview with Millennium Point CEO Abbie Vlahakis, who explores the inspiration behind Birmingham 2050 and why public participation is central to the campaign.
Explore real submissions
Need some inspiration? Below you’ll find Birmingham 2050 entries – including a powerful visual concept and an original poem imagining the city’s future. Take a look, then submit your own entry before the 17 July deadline.
Birmingham 2050 poem
Birmingham, a city where so many have no place to call home
Through city streets in which they walk, cold and alone
Through no fault or choice of their own
But a consequence of systems that have left them unknown
All the while, homes abandoned and empty
Overgrown gardens and boarded windows aplenty
Buildings with potential to be homes
Now standing in deafening silence
Tomorrow’s Birmingham, a future that is bright
Where we stand together to shine our light
No property left to blight
Homes now filled and put right
No one left out in the cold night
All are sheltered and warm tonight
Homes need people
People need homes
Birmingham 2050 — a city where everyone has a place to call home
Why now?
Birmingham is evolving at pace. Major developments, new infrastructure and a rapidly growing cultural scene are reshaping the city.
Birmingham 2050 captures that momentum and channels it into something powerful: a shared vision of the future created by the people who live, work and study here.
Young people are at the heart of the campaign, with their ideas helping to shape conversations about the Birmingham of tomorrow.
How to get involved
Entries are being accepted now via the Birmingham 2050 online platform.
However, time is running out. The deadline for submissions is 17 July 2026, leaving just a short window to take part and share your vision.
A curated selection of entries will then be showcased at a major public exhibition and live event at Millennium Point this September. The event will celebrate Birmingham’s creativity through live performances, visual art, poetry, installations and bold ideas from across the region.
As Abbie Vlahakis, CEO of Millennium Point, explains:
“Birmingham has always been a city of makers and thinkers. Birmingham 2050 is about giving people permission to imagine what comes next and to share that openly.”
Be part of Birmingham’s future
Optimistic, inclusive and forward-thinking, Birmingham 2050 is more than a creative campaign. It is an open invitation to help shape the story of one of Europe’s youngest and most dynamic cities.
If you’ve ever had an idea about what Birmingham could become, now is the time to share it.
Find out more, watch the Instagram interview with Abbie Vlahakis, and submit your entry at birmingham2050.co.uk
Entries close 17 July 2026.
