"The Locatus database has formed the basis for our analyses of supply"
BRO Belgium
"We started using Locatus information in 2005,” says Jan Boots, director of the design and spatial planning consultancy BRO Belgium. “Since then Locatus data has formed the basis for our analyses of supply.”
“We focus primarily on developing concepts and strategies for urban functions such as retail and hospitality and on the effective management of town centres and other special locations,” explains Boots. “Last year we examined Halle, Zoutleeuw, Kasterlee, Oudenaarde, Lanaken, Houthalen-Helchteren and Retie, among other locations.“
“We recently delivered a retail plan for the commercial centres of Leuven and in the near future we will be finalising the Gent Strategic Commercial plan 2020. We always start by identifying the existing offering in terms of retail. We also use Locatus data to examine the feasibility and desirability of new (re)developments and to draw up socio-economic dossiers for market operators. We have done this in Ronse, Oostende and Bree among other places. In other words, we are using Locatus’ data throughout Flanders."
The objective
“The Locatus information helps us determine
the market capacity for further retail development and to indicate how the retail
structure can be optimised in a particular town or municipality. The Shopping
Areas Explorer makes it easy for us to compare different municipalities.
What is the offering like elsewhere? How do the various retail sectors and penetration of multiples fit together? And can we learn something from that for
the municipality in question? Only when we have an answer to these questions
can we proceed to develop a concept.”
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Why Locatus?
“Locatus has gathered and recorded the information for every municipality in the same way. In this respect Locatus and BRO Belgium complement one another perfectly. We don’t want to spend our time gathering information, when our core business is to develop concepts. But we cannot develop a solid concept without a thorough analysis of supply, demand and structures.”
BRO Netherlands also uses information of Locatus.
