Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) are an increasingly prominent part of the urban governance landscape in contemporary England, having proliferated in cities and towns since their introduction in 2005.

However, the nature and implications of their role in urban planning agendas are not well researched in the academic debates, with most literature focusing on the longer-established North American context.

A particular knowledge gap is the growing direct role of BIDs in place-making - the creation and stewardship of new spaces within urban environments. This paper explores this phenomenon through a study of three BIDs in the city of Birmingham - Colmore CBD, Jewellery Quarter, Southside – which are centrally located and directly involved in delivering significant place-making initiatives in recent years.

Drawing upon document analysis, grey literature, and interviews with key stakeholders, the paper examines the motivations and rationale behind the BIDs’ adoption of an accelerated place-making role. It also considers the dynamics of their relationship with the city council and other public authorities with regard to the design and implementation of new spaces; and it explores the nature of the new spaces/places themselves, questioning whose interests are being served in such complex, diverse city districts.

We conclude by drawing on these insights to reflect on the wider meaning of this trend – a positive process delivering substantive and welcome environmental benefits in a climate of public sector austerity, or a more problematic development that raises questions about the nature and durability of the governance transformations taking place in our central cities?