Rotterdam is a constantly evolving city. Each year, many people move to Rotterdam, creating more difficulties in the organising and planning of the city. To also provide a healthy environment, the city of Rotterdam is tackling all kinds of projects to create a sustainable city.
These projects are innovative and future-focused, mainly focussing on more green areas with space for leisure, sports, and cultural events. Those new areas will mostly be built in spaces that were not usable before, like the riverside. Apart from recreational purposes, the goal of these places is for Rotterdam to be able to deal with rainwater more efficiently, to improve urban mobility, and to cool down the city.
Improving squares
Firstly, various squares will be transformed into more accessible areas with lots of greenery and places to relax. Hofplein, which is now a busy road, will become a more pedestrian-friendly zone. The many car lanes will be transformed into a single lane surrounding the square, which leaves all the places near the fountain open to pedestrians. A water basin will be placed inside the fountain to be able to provide the surrounding trees with water in times of drought. On Schouwburgplein, there will be more space for people to sit and park their bikes. Moreover, there will be more plants to deal with flooding after periods with lots of rainfall. Lastly, Alexanderplein will slowly mature into a more quiet, sustainable, and gratifying square. Surrounding office buildings will be turned into apartments, creating an even more vivid area.
Changing infrastructure
Taking the desire for more green even further, many roads will also be transformed into parks. The city of Rotterdam has big plans for Westblaak, a now busy road with many cars, pedestrians, and cyclists. The goal is to make this a more accessible, relaxing environment. There will be limited space for cars, making it less attractive to travel to the city centre by car. The exact plans for this project are still unclear, but with the help of residents and entrepreneurs surrounding the street, the city is working towards the most desirable solution. The purpose of this park is to reduce noise and air pollution, as well as to lower the temperatures in the city.
Green city
Rotterdam offers many opportunities to visit nature, with the Kralingse Plas, Bergse Plassen, and Vroesenpark as the most well-known ones. However, most of those areas are in the northern part of the city. To spread out nature in other parts of the city, they will build new parks in places that do not have much green yet. Most of these will therefore be focused on the south of Rotterdam, where the city is still growing. Eventually, the goal is that every citizen of Rotterdam will have access to nature within a fifteen-minute walk. An example of such a ‘green park’ is the Rijnhavenpark, which will partly be floating on water. Walkways and bridges will connect the park to the mainland, and there will be opportunities for water sports. Lastly, the planned Nelson Mandelapark in Maashaven will have the size of approximately ten football fields, becoming an area with hills, lots of green and awesome views. Because it is located next to the water, it will also be reachable by water taxi.
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This item is part of Backbone Magazine 2024. The magazine can be found in E-building or Theil-building for free. Additionally, a digital copy is available here. Backbone is the corporate magazine of Erasmus School of Economics. Since 2014, it is published once a year. The magazine highlights successful and interesting alumni, covers the latest economic trends and research, and reports on news, events, student and alumni accomplishments.