TransferMetroPlant - Development of an application-oriented tool for economic development organizations as an adequate support to companies in the location planning and development within metropolitan regions

Project Partners

• Business promotion services of the state capital Hannover

• Business promotion services of the Hannover Region

• Technische Universität Braunschweig, Institute of Automotive Management and Industrial Production

Initial Situation and Problem

As a result of the preceding project MetroPlant, the two affiliated partners developed an adequate decision supporting tool for companies in the facility site and development planning within metropolitan regions. It is a quantitative instrument intended to support companies that are willing to settle or relocate, by means of an integrated evaluation, selection and target-oriented over-time development of sites. Herein, multiple regional site factors are considered simultaneously that are both qualitative and quantitative. The methodological novelty of the developed planning tool is the opportunity given to companies to anticipate site dynamics and to plan the implementation of own development measures for shaping locational conditions in a strategic, target-oriented manner in an early-stage decision-making process. In addition, site development measures whose realization are planned by municipalities as well as economic development organizations are taken into account as well.

A major challenge for companies seeking for sites is the acquisition of a vast amount of decision-relevant data. Given this background, particularly business development organizations play a central role in the establishment of a sound data basis for a company’s location decisions. Subsequently, they are the key contacts for a company’s issues relating their settlement and relocation intentions within metropolitan regions. Economic development organizations are pursuing the vital aim of providing the best possible conditions to location-seeking companies. However, they are frequently facing obstacles in terms of estimating the concrete, individual needs of companies already located or intend to settle within economic development’s area of responsibility. To ensure a long-term successful binding of companies at own locations, such knowledge is indispensable for economic development organizations.

In practice, both economic development organizations and municipalities are usually lacking an application-oriented planning tool for the systematic, large-scale assessment of own site structures in order to identify concrete needs for action and to implement suitable measures in a target-oriented manner – while considering individual needs of companies.

Objective and Approach

Against this background, the core aim of TransferMetroPlant is to further develop the planning tool for the regional facility site planning and development within metropolitan regions that the affiliated partners developed in the preceding project MetroPlant.

 
Specifically, the existing tool is to be extended by the planning perspective of economic development organizations. So far, the tool is tailored to main requirements from the perspective of site-seeking companies. The further development of the planning tool is carried out in collaboration between the affiliated and application partners and is intended to make a major positive contribution towards shaping and developing the Hannover Region in a future-oriented way as well as creating proeconomic locational conditions for companies located and willing to settle.