Commercial location development (CLD) is a method used by the

public sector The public sector, also called the state sector, is the part of the economy composed of both public services and public enterprises. Public sectors include the public goods and governmental services such as the military, law enforcement, inf ...

to position its territory and create a good frame condition for the development of its economy. After having made a thorough diagnosis of the actual situation the public entities design a

Marketing Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to emph ...

strategy of the location, which includes, as in any

marketing mix The term "marketing mix" is a foundation model for businesses, historically centered around product, price, place, and promotion (also known as the "4 Ps"). The marketing mix has been defined as the "set of marketing tools that the firm uses to ...

, the target groups definition (type of enterprises they want to conserve or attract), the offer, the pricing, the promotion and the sale's strategy. The topic includes the recruitment and retention of the appropriate human capital. The design of a CLD strategy allows

local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-l ...

s to manage their territorial and economic development accorded to fixed and legitimized goals instead of having to react to single cases and demands in a short time. The concerned territory can be municipal, inter-municipal or larger. The aim of this article is to present the methodology and tools used for designing a Commercial Location Development strategy.

Methodology and tools

Territorial diagnosis

The first step consists of assessing the CLD situation at the level of the considered

territory A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or a ...

. This can be done using both statistical data and interviews of local stakeholders. The collected information is then summarized using i.e. a balanced scorecard (BSC) or

SWOT analysis SWOT analysis (or SWOT matrix) is a strategic planning and strategic management technique used to help a person or organization identify Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats related to business competition or project planning. It ...

Competition analysis

After having identified the main territorial competitors, these ones are then assessed using as far as possible the same tools as for the territorial diagnosis. The results are then compared in order to determine in which topics and frame conditions the concerned commercial location has to improve to enhance its competitiveness versus its competitors.

Benchmarking

Ideas for the new strategy are then developed taking inspiration out of a benchmarking analysis and/or a

best practice A best practice is a method or technique that has been generally accepted as superior to other known alternatives because it often produces results that are superior to those achieved by other means or because it has become a standard way of doing ...

s or worst practices inventory.

Designing of a commercial location development strategy

The strategy is then designed, democratically validated and implemented.

References

{{Reflist * Marketing Places by

Philip Kotler Philip Kotler (born May 27, 1931) is an American marketing author, consultant, and professor emeritus; the S. C. Johnson & Son Distinguished Professor of International Marketing at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University ...

, Donald Haider, and Irving Rein (Paperback 1993) *

in Europe by Rudie Hulst et Andre van Montfort,(Springer, Paperback 2010) * Environmental Management of Industrial Estates: Information and Training Resources (Training Manual plus CD-ROM, UNEP, 2002)
Books and Monographs by International Society of Industrial Ecology (ISIE) Members

External links

European Territorial Cooperation 2007–2013 – Alpine Space Programme

COMUNIS Homepage – Inter-municipal cooperation for Strategic Steering of SME-oriented Location Development in the Alpine Space

COMUNIS Project description- Inter-municipal cooperation for Strategic Steering of SME-oriented Location Development in the Alpine Space

COMUNIS Project Synthesis - Inter-municipal cooperation for Strategic Steering of SME-oriented Location Development in the Alpine Space

COMUNIS Final Publication - Inter-municipal cooperation for Strategic Steering of SME-oriented Location Development in the Alpine Space

COMUNIS Documents – Inter-municipal cooperation for Strategic Steering of SME-oriented Location Development in the Alpine Space

Council of Europe – Good practices in intermunicipal co-operation in Europe, 2007

Inter-municipal Cooperation (IMC) in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE)

New Cornaredo District (NQC) Lugano Switzerland

Technoark:
Intermunicipal

Business Park A business park or office park is a designated area of land in which many office buildings are grouped together. These types of developments are often located in suburban areas where land and building costs are more affordable, and are typicall ...

Technopole A technopole, commonly referred to as a high-technology cluster or tech hub, refers to a center of high-tech manufacturing and information-based quaternary industry. The term was coined by Allen J. Scott in 1990 to describe regions in Southern C ...

Sierre Switzerland
Micro-region Haute-Sorne, Jura, Suisse
Public economics