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12 October 2004
BRUSSELS – Belgium has far fewer shopping centres than the rest of Europe, it was reported on Tuesday.
The country has just one million squared metres of shopping malls, far fewer than the three countries with the largest amount of space devoted to these facilities.
The UK has 13.6 million squared metres, France 12.5 million and Germany 11 million.
However, consumers in Belgian are impressed with the facilities that are on offer, rating the centres highly in terms of ease of access and opening hours.
The limited number of shopping centres in Belgium has been attributed to a restrictive urban development law introduced in 1975.
The law on commercial developments has been overhauled recently, though, with planning procedures simplified and new shopping centres are expected to follow as a result in the next few years.
Other observers have pointed out that with populations six to eight times larger than Belgium’s, it is not surprising that France, the UK and Germany have more shopping centres.
[Copyright Expatica 2004]
Subject: Belgian news