News item | 01-09-2022 | 1:00 pm
Eleven municipalities receive a subsidy to tackle their shopping area or shopping street. This is the result of the first round of the Impulse Approach Shopping Areas program of Minister Adriaansens (Economic Affairs and Climate). On average, each municipality will receive an amount of two million euros. The amount available for this round of the scheme of 22 million euros has thus been fully allocated.
Minister Micky Adriaansens: “Shopping streets are important and many municipalities want to improve their shopping areas, and this result shows that. The retail sector in the shopping areas is under constant pressure due to online shopping. Empty buildings and the deterioration of shopping areas make the city center less livable and unattractive. I am pleased that we are counteracting this development by granting these eleven municipalities a total of 22 million euros in subsidies to tackle their shopping areas. This money ensures that 76 dilapidated or empty retail properties and four office buildings will be converted into 850 homes and fourteen social facilities such as a library.”
Approved project requests
The eleven municipalities that receive a contribution are Alkmaar, Bunschoten, Den Helder, Hardenberg, Heerlen, Hengelo, Het Hogeland, Hilversum, Oldambt, Roosendaal and Sittard-Geleen. A total of sixteen municipalities applied for financial support. Five project applications could not be granted because parts of them did not sufficiently meet the conditions of the scheme. In a subsequent round, these municipalities can, if they wish, submit an improved project proposal.
Make areas attractive
Until 30 May, Dutch municipalities could apply for financial support to make shopping areas attractive again for both residents and visitors. By redesigning the area and improving the quality of buildings and public space, the shopping experience is improved. In the projects that receive a contribution, attention is paid to, for example, walking routes, variety of shops, accessibility and the appearance of the shopping area. In addition, much attention is being paid to making the shopping area more compact and thus more attractive by replacing square meters of retail space with other functions, such as housing and public greenery. In addition to the efforts of municipalities, private investors have an important share in the realization of the projects.
Program Impulse Approach Shopping Areas
This autumn, municipalities that plan to submit an application can register for the Impulse Chambers for Shopping Areas. They can then submit their project plan to independent experts. The second round of the scheme is open from November 14 to December 5. The scheme is implemented by the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO). RVO assesses whether the application is complete and fits within the conditions of the scheme. An Advisory Committee of independent experts assesses the content of the projects on the basis of predetermined criteria and draws up a ranking. The total budget for this scheme is €100 million and will be divided over 4 submission periods.
More information
More information about the Impulse approach to shopping areas can be found at RVO.nl. Here you will also find an overview with a short description of the approved project applications.