hub.brussels (joined ENoLL as Atrium Brussels in 2017) aims to understand urban retail, and the main objective of the Atrium Lab project is to set the Brussels-Capital Region (BCR) on the path towards becoming a Smart Retail City. Our aim is to define exactly what it means to be a Smart Retail City, drawing on the participation of our users (residents/business owners/districts, etc). The application of the smart city concept to the retail sector allows us to define a Smart Retail City as one which possesses detailed knowledge of retail, the consumer and new trends, guides urban retail towards excellence, supports cooperation between commercial and territorial stakeholders and considers retail within urban development plans. Atrium’s experience has demonstrated that as well as providing everyday support to retail districts, it was necessary to offer a long term commercial development plan. There is no existing retail platform in the BCR which connects all stakeholders, enabling them to exploit and use empirical knowledge. The exploratory and participative process, placing the user at the heart of the study, enables Atrium to create a new paradigm in retail development. In order to achieve this level of excellence in the BCR, the project involves developing research activities around the great challenges facing urban retail, methodological innovation, application of tools within the territory and communication. While the Region “struggles to reap the benefits of the knowledge it produces”, Atrium Lab can be viewed as one of the leaders in terms of putting retail knowledge to use in the BCR.