The evolution of retail and hotels in Brussels
With more than 25,000 commercial premises, commerce plays an essential role in the Brussels-Capital Region, both in terms of employment and in meeting the needs of different users. Aware of this importance, and following the health crisis, hub.brussels and perspective.brussels are releasing the ninth Observatory of Commerce in the Region, a study aimed at measuring the commercial growth of Brussels.
The Observatory of Commerce analyses the urban planning permits (PU) granted to shops and hotels, in order to observe the dynamics of the commercial and hotel function in the Region. It has been designed by analogy with the study carried out for all the urban functions in the Region (2018-2019).
Crossing of Brussels expertises
This Observatory is the fifth successful collaboration between the multidisciplinary regional expertise center perspective.brussels and hub.brussels, within the framework of the Trade Observatory.
In 2017, the two agencies first analyzed the evolution of the Brussels commercial fabric between 1950 and 2017. Secondly, they checked the adequacy between the regulatory framework and the latest developments of trade on the territory. Then, the commercial supply was analyzed precisely by updating the perimeter of the commercial nodes and creating analysis indicators. Finally, the demand was observed via an initial survey aimed at understanding the spatial purchasing behaviour of Brussels households.
Today, for this fifth collaboration, the two agencies are looking at the analysis of planning permits granted in 2019 for commercial and hotel functions.
A basis for the Region’s territorial development strategy
The commercial observatory has several objectives:
- on the one hand, to define a methodology for analyzing urban planning permits in order to evaluate recent changes in the Region’s commercial fabric,
- on the other hand, to objectify the debate on territorial development.
In 2019, 645 planning permits for commercial or hotel functions were issued. A planning permit may concern minor alterations to the building (change of chassis, placement of a sign, etc.) but above all changes (positive or negative) to the commercial surface.
Overall, we see a total increase of 21,270 m² of retail (10,899 m²) and hotel (10,371 m²) space.
Discover the detailed figures and trends of the Brussels retail sector by consulting our study*!
*A summary can be consulted directly on our analytics.brussels platform.
