A Tool For Economic Development Agencies For The Model-Based Business Consultation In Location Planning

Abstract

Location planning is crucial to a company’s long-term success. The increasing concentration of companies in urban areas poses new challenges for regional location planning. For companies to make good long-term location planning and development decisions, they must increasingly cooperate with Economic Development Agencies (EDAs). Against this background, a tool was developed in the DFG research project "TransferMetroPlant" that supports companies in regional location assessment and decision-making by comparing location requirements with assessed and stored locations. This tool makes it possible for EDAs to systematically and objectively carry out location consultancy and to derive development measures for the managed locations in the process. Company and municipal measures for the development of locations over time can be taken into account. This paper presents the structure of the tool and the corresponding workflow and provides insights into its development. In addition, essential findings of the workshop-based validation of the developed planning approach are described.