Ruimte voor ambitie van bedrijveninvesteringszones: Evaluatie van ervaringen van BIZ-organisaties met bedrijveninvesteringszones en voorstellen tot verbetering

The Business Investment Zones Act (BIZ Act) (In Dutch: Wet op de bedrijveninvesteringszones (Wet BIZ)) has existed since 2015. Since then, an even larger number of BI zones have been created in a large number of municipalities. In 2019, there were about 300 in 106 municipalities. The ESBL has been commissioned by the municipalities of Amsterdam, The Hague and Rotterdam to conduct research into the functioning of BI zones. The focus is on the results of a survey conducted in 2022 as part of this study, which was conducted by 118 BIZ organizations. Respondents were asked about their experiences with the BIZ scheme and their opinion on a number of proposals to adapt and improve the BIZ scheme. Because the vast majority of responding organizations are active in downtown and shopping areas, the results of this study are mainly representative of BI zones in those areas and less so in business parks. In addition to the results of the research, the research report contains a number of proposals for improving the current BIZ Act. For example, it is proposed to distinguish between new BI zones and the restart of BI zones. Broader legal possibilities could be introduced for the restart of BI zones under certain conditions. For example, they must be able to opt for a maximum duration longer than 5 years. One of the other proposals is to allow restart BI zones that want to continue unchanged after 5 years to extend for a number of years without support measurement.