It has taken a little time, but Birmingham is shaking off its drab industrial image. England’s second city has had a surge in self confidence to match the massive programme of regeneration that has transformed vast swathes of the city. A multicultural melting pot, the energy and enthusiasm sweeping through Birmingham is having an enormous effect on the city, although the traditionally welcoming Brummie atmosphere remains. The redevelopment is also encouraging new investment, on top of the hundreds of millions of pounds already spent on breathing life into the extensive canal network around Brindleyplace, the Bullring, the historic Jewellery Quarter and the former industrial heartlands in the Eastside. With art and culture thriving, the city is starting to make many people, locals and visitors alike, see it in a whole new light.