One-Man Businesses Within the brutal world of mergers and takeovers, the lack of job security and the ambition to decide things for themselves are leading many employees to start their own businesses. The need to work in an environment close to other chain partners—which can lead to contacts for later business transactions—is great among this group. So they look for a location that meets this requirement. In the creative industry, for example, people seek a creative breeding ground. A place that serves the shared interests of independent businesspeople and, when the occasion arises, leads to a network organisation. The concept can be based on the view that the location should provide a network environment. The Wester Gas Works in Amsterdam, Van Nelle design plant in Rotterdam and the Pudding Factory in Groningen are all examples of such successful breeding grounds. Recently, the Binckhorst in The Hague and the former Caballero Plant were transformed from hopelessly outdated terrains to successful, innovative breeding grounds. The former cigarette plant (i.e., the cigarette brand) is leading the communication efforts to attract the desired target groups to the location—a strategic choice that is bearing fruit. As a result of past economic developments, price and location play a less important role in the decisions of
Supply and Demand Nonetheless, in the Netherlands we still often approach the development of a business park in the way it was done during its genesis in the 1970s and 80s: allocation occurs lot by lot. The attractiveness of the land is communicated through functional advantages such as accessibility, sustainability and price. This places the focus on the potential individual buyer, instead of on the added value of collective profiling. But the successful profiling of a location for this buyer lies in making the added value of the collective profiling imaginable beforehand, by demonstrating that collective success can be achieved with a chance for individual success. Demonstrating the Collective Nature Hilversum Mediapark makes use of collective profiling and does so successfully. Companies that set up business in the park become part of a larger whole. Companies with a suitable profile seek to profit from the collective benefits that the park offers. It attracts both clients and the public. Thus the park serves both business and public interests. Hilversum Mediapark is taking advantage of the opportunities that collective profiling provides by expanding. This expansion is meant to provide better services to the individual companies established there and to continue attracting the public in the future. The new Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision, located in the Mediapark, will contribute to creating a positive image. This will help the park establish its authority as a regional location in the media world. At the same time, all the separate business activities will benefit from the allure of a museum in their midst. Such an approach requires the park to renovate and look for new ways to maintain the proposition. This will keep the park vital and attractive to future businesses, which will safeguard property values and the inherent quality of the park. The new economy is focused on interdependent relationships, shared facilities and cooperation. Local and provincial authorities, and developers of business parks can profit from this by including in their strategy a conceptual approach to the development of locations, and preferably as early in the process as possible so that the location is furbished in line with the concept in its urban-development structure, functions, target-group segmentation and marketing. So the question is: how do you come up with a concept? Conceptual Approach: Bringing the Future to the Present Within the context of location development, a concept is essentially a connecting pattern that inspires and 113
The Repositioning of Schiphol Airport Schiphol Airport has been transformed from an airport—a logistical, faciliatory environment—to Airport City. In the area surrounding Schiphol, there are numerous service and logistics companies which profit from one another’s presence. It is an area in which knowledge circulates and where the competition among the companies leads to innovation. The airport itself has also become an important public meeting place where retail businesses have set up shop. Schiphol has become a representative example of an airport city and is seen in the world as a way forward for airport development. Schiphol Airport City shows that this concept can be translated into target-group segmentation that works. The term Airport City appeals to the images the target groups have of ‘City’ and ‘Airport’. The combination of these two words possesses a powerful appeal to people’s imaginations. It has ensured that the translation of the concept into an urban development design, and into marketing and communication, has withstood the test of time.
many businesses. The possibility of locating a business in the right environment close to related businesses and thus of presenting themselves together has become more important. This gives a business advantages that in a stand-alone situation are much more difficult to realise and require much greater investments. The business park of the future should be about something and stand for something
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which niche propositions and specialisation become more important. In the Dutch horticulture sector, for instance, we see both of these trends—on the one hand, at Agriport A7, a business park specifically aimed at companies with large-scale production needs, and on the other, at Green Park Aalsmeer, which is specifically aimed at small-scale specialised production and services brought together in clusters. In both cases, there is an increasing interest in the presence of other (chain) partners. Their shared connection and the consequent enhancement of their identities should contribute to advantages of scale that help them compete at the international level.