How many business parks does the Netherlands have?

The Netherlands is a country of logistics, production, trade and innovation. A large share of that economic activity takes place on business parks: the areas on the outskirts of cities and along highways where warehouses, halls, distribution centers and multi-tenant industrial buildings are located. These locations form the backbone of the economy, even though they rarely receive the same attention as city centers or residential neighborhoods.

When assessing such parks, the focus has traditionally been on accessibility, floor area, parking availability and energy. What often remains underexposed is the digital infrastructure. As businesses become increasingly dependent on stable connections, automation and data processing, a building without proper IT facilities gradually becomes less usable for modern occupants.

This raises a question rarely asked until now: how digitally prepared are our business parks really? This article looks at the number and role of business parks in the Netherlands and at why digital readiness is emerging as a new parameter for future-proof commercial real estate.

How many business parks are there in the Netherlands?

An exact figure is difficult to give, because definitions differ per source and parks are merged, expanded or restructured over time. Still, the overall picture is clear: the Netherlands has an estimated several thousand business parks, spread across all provinces. Together they cover a considerable area and house a large share of non-office-based employment.

Bodies such as Statistics Netherlands (CBS), the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL) and provincial databases keep records of location, size and use. These surveys consistently point to the same conclusion: business parks are not a marginal phenomenon, but a load-bearing layer beneath the regional economy.

The parks differ substantially from one another. A number of common types:

• Logistics parks with large distribution centers and transshipment halls.
• Production sites where goods are manufactured and processed.
• SME business parks with a mix of smaller enterprises.
• High-tech campuses focused on research, development and knowledge-intensive activity.
• Mixed-use work areas where functions coexist side by side.

Each type has its own profile and, with that, its own expectations regarding infrastructure. What a high-tech campus needs differs fundamentally from what a mixed SME park requires. That diversity makes a shared way of describing digital quality all the more important.

From bricks to smart work environments

For a long time, a commercial building was assessed mainly on physical characteristics. How many square meters does the hall have? Are there enough loading and unloading options? How is accessibility, and how much parking space is available? These remain relevant questions, but they no longer tell the whole story.

Today, an increasing number of parks revolve around automation, robotics, data, AI, cloud applications, smart building systems and cybersecurity. A modern commercial building is not just a physical location, but also a digital work environment. Without reliable connectivity, processes that run smoothly on paper come to a standstill in practice.

This shift touches the core of how real estate is valued. A building that is well prepared digitally can be put into use faster and suits a broader group of occupants. A building lacking that preparation first requires investment before the first machine or server can even be switched on.

An industrial hall is no longer judged solely on its square meters, but on whether data can flow through it.

Why IT infrastructure on business parks matters

The reason digital quality is gaining weight is simple: different occupants place different, but equally real, demands on the connections in and around their building. Underestimating those demands leads to delays, extra costs and sometimes a building that simply does not fit its intended function.

Varying requirements per function

• Logistics: real-time inventory management, scanners, warehouse management systems and camera surveillance require stable, high-speed networks.
• Production: networked machines, IoT sensors, monitoring and automation place high demands on reliability.
• Office functions: cloud working, video conferencing and cybersecurity require sufficient bandwidth and a secure setup.
• Building management: smart meters, access control and climate systems run on the same digital foundation.

On many parks, these functions come together. A mixed-use building can house storage, production and office work at the same time. It is precisely in that case that it matters that the digital facilities align with the value of the property, so the building does not get held back by a single weak link. This applies especially strongly to logistics occupants, as we described earlier in our article on logistics real estate and the demands of AI-driven processes.

The missing factor: digital transparency

For many building qualities, a shared language already exists. The energy label is widely known, and methods such as BREEAM and WELL and standards such as the NEN series provide guidance on sustainability, health and technical performance. Market parties know roughly what these terms mean and can compare them with one another.

For IT infrastructure, that shared language is often still missing. As a result, important questions during leasing and acquisition go unanswered:

1. Is fiber optic present, and how far does it run?
2. What internet speed is achievable at this location?
3. Is there redundancy, or does everything depend on a single connection?
4. What cabling is already in place in the building?
5. Is there a suitable technical room?
6. Can a new occupant become operational quickly?

These points rarely appear in a sales or leasing brochure, even though they have a major impact on usability. Those wanting to learn more about the role of fixed connections can find background in our explanation of fiber optics in buildings and network redundancy. Both partly determine whether a park is digitally future-proof.

What the IT-Label means in this context

The IT-Label is not a certification and not a legal standard. It is a classification methodology developed by an independent knowledge collective, intended to make the digital delivery level of a building transparent and comparable. It does not pass judgment on whether a building is good or poor, but describes what is digitally present and what an occupant still needs to arrange.

Importantly, not every building needs the same level. A distribution center, a production hall and an office environment each have different requirements. The label helps make those differences explicit. The full classification runs from PREMIUM to SHELL and works, in brief, as follows:

• IT1+ PREMIUM: a fully digitally equipped building with high-quality infrastructure.
• IT2 PLUG & PLAY: quickly operational with limited additions.
• IT3 READY: the basics are in place, further setup is done by the occupant.
• IT4 CORE: limited digital facilities present.
• IT5 SHELL: the occupant determines and realizes the full IT setup.

For a developer or investor, this means a park does not need to be delivered in a single, uniform way. Some occupants actually benefit from a shell building they can fit out according to their own wishes, while others want everything to work immediately. The label makes that choice visible rather than implicit.

Why IT is becoming a new real estate parameter

Location, energy performance, sustainability and flexibility have long determined the attractiveness of real estate. Digital readiness is now being added as a parameter, and this has an impact on leasing, sales, valuation and future-proofing.

A building with a well-arranged digital foundation can be put into use faster and appeals to a broader group of modern occupants. That makes it more attractive on the market, without the label attaching a price tag to it. What the label does is provide the information parties need to make their own assessment. We explored the link between digital infrastructure and real estate value further in the article on digital infrastructure, ESG and the value of real estate.

For real estate agents and advisors, this means that advice ignoring digital quality retains a blind spot. For municipalities and area developers, the label offers a way, when restructuring parks, to look not only at buildings and accessibility but also at the digital foundation.

The future: smart business parks

The trend is moving toward Smart Industry and smart buildings, in which machines, sensors and systems continuously exchange data. Concepts such as AI and digital twins, digital copies of physical installations, are no longer distant future scenarios but are making their way into the daily practice of production and logistics.

All these applications rest on the same invisible foundation: connections, cabling, technical rooms and security. Digital infrastructure is thereby becoming an increasingly important part of a building's foundation, just as decisive as the structure or the energy supply. More on this development can be found in our article on future-proof building.

The Netherlands has thousands of business parks that keep the economy running. The next step is not only to look at how many square meters are available, but also at how digitally prepared these buildings are.

Getting started with the digital quality of your park

Are you considering mapping the digital readiness of your business park or commercial building? Start with a concrete picture of what is currently in place: connections, cabling, redundancy and technical space. Then compare this with the requirements of the intended occupants.

On the page for property owners and in the explanation of how the IT-Label works, you can read step by step how a classification comes about and what it delivers for you during leasing, sales and long-term management. This way, you make the digital quality of your real estate just as discussable as its square meters.