This study is a collaboration between perspective.brussels and hub.brussels, within the framework of the Trade Observatory. The two agencies are analysing the planning permits granted with a view to achieving two objectives: assessing recent changes in the Region’s retail landscape and providing an objective basis for the debate on regional development. It was designed in a similar way to the study carried out by perspective.brussels covering all the Region’s urban functions.
Growth masking many changes
In 2019, 645 planning permits were granted for retail and/or hospitality functions. Overall, the Region is seeing an increase in retail space (+11,000 m²) and accommodation (+10,000 m²). However, these net figures mask a more complex situation: whilst some sites are being lost, others are being created, resulting in nearly 100,000 m² of changed surface area. This applies in particular to the retail sector, which, with more than 86,000 m² of alterations, is undergoing a process of reorganisation rather than outright expansion.
These changes are mainly driven by large-scale projects (involving more than 1,000 m² of alterations). Although there are only a few of them (25 across both functions), they account for more than half of the changes in surface area (54,000 m² of alterations). Conversely, the majority of permits relating to minor changes do not have a significant impact on the stock. For example, 176 planning permits involve alterations of less than 50 m². Together, they represent a total area equivalent to 4,000 m² of alterations.
Looking at the type of applicant, the study shows that the number of permits granted is evenly split between individuals and companies. However, the changes are mainly attributable to the second group, which is responsible for nearly 80,000 m² of alterations.
An analysis of the types of alterations reveals that changes of use account for the largest volume of activity within the retail and hospitality sectors (65,000 m²). When both functions expand their footprint, this often results in the conversion of warehouses and workshops. Conversely, when these surface areas decrease, it is primarily to create housing.
Development outside traditional retail areas
An analysis of the geographical distribution of permits shows that retail activity remains fairly stable within the city centre once the projects granted have been completed. The inner suburbs, meanwhile, show limited growth in retail floor space (+2,000 m²), whilst the outer suburbs account for the bulk of the net alterations (+8,000 m²).
Whilst regional policies, through the Regional Land Use Plan (PRAS) and the strips of commercial centres, have sought to preserve commercial activities in the main retail areas, data from 2019 shows that new retail space is increasingly being developed outside these traditional areas, often on the outskirts. This raises questions about whether the planning tools inherited from the 1990s are still appropriate for the realities of today’s retail landscape.
Indeed, on the one hand, the strips for commercial centres have seen a decline, with 8,000 m² of retail space lost. On the other hand, there has been an increase in retail space in areas suitable for the establishment of large specialist retailers, namely the urban industrial zones on the outskirts of Brussels (+6,000 m²) and highly mixed and areas of regional interest (+4,000 m²). These developments are often large-scale projects that shift retail activity away from the traditional commercial centres and which, in the long term, may become new commercial hubs in their own right and undermine the existing retail landscape.
