Brighton and Hove
Some cities are built on coal. Others expanded from their port areas. Brighton and Hove grew from a nondescript fishing village to Britain's newest and most dynamic city.
Brighton's iconic Royal Pavilion is the country's most fantastical building, whose schematic outline provides the city council's logo.
The city benefits from the co-terminosity of much of its public sector (council, health and police), the engagement of two universities and a large, vibrant voluntary and community sector. Culture plays a very important role in both the economy and the personality of the city; culture is visible on the streets in the protection of our heritage and the flowering of contemporary public art; in popular involvement in arts and performance; it is fundamental to the expression of our diversity.
Brighton & Hove is the fifth most densely populated area in the region, with 251,000 residents, 49% males and 51% females (2006 ONS estimates). The non-white population grew from 3.1% in 1991 to 5.8% in 2001, higher than the South East average of 4.9%. There are 8 million visitors per year with 32,000 students. 43.3% of the population is aged between 20 and 44. The population is well educated with 38.4% of the working age having achieved NVQ level 4 or above (HND, Degree and Higher Degree level or equivalent, 2006 Annual Population Survey). The employment rate is 73.1% (2006 Annual Population Survey). The Creative Industries represents 1 in 5 businesses and 9% of employment and is the fastest growing sector. Other key sectors are financial and business services, tourism, retail, knowledge based industries, construction, and the public sector.
The city is the only one in the UK to have seen year-on-year growth in bus use for the past decade. This will be further enhanced as we unveil plans for a Rapid Transit System, linking major routes, venues and employers with these new developments. We know that ease of travel into and around the city is critical to the viability of our cultural and tourist industries, as are perceptions of community safety, and a successful night-time economy.
There continues to be a significant level of ambitious development in the city; the completion of the award winning Jubilee library and the ongoing related regeneration work; major developments in the pipeline for a 10,000 seat ice arena at Black Rock, alongside the proposals for Brighton Marina designed by Jim Eyre; a mixed use development at Preston Barracks, the Frank Gehry designed King Alfred project, with a world-class sports centre, the i360, a contemporary vertical pier by the renowned London Eye team Marks Barfield for the 21st century on the site of the old West Pier; the Brighton Station site including a residential language school; a community football stadium at Falmer and - most critical to the local and regional economy - a new convention centre to replace the Brighton Centre with a revolutionary use of public space, linking the main retail sectors with the seafront.
