Regeneration of Central Rotterdam

Our recent research at our inaugural forum of Future Cities at RIBA in June 2016 discussed bench marks for creating high streets and townscapes that are sustainable not only in profit terms but are also places that people want to live.

The post-war American ‘downtown’ model in Rotterdam (where everyone lived away from the redeveloped city centre) is changing with high-quality mixed-use buildings being developed or built from scratch, such as the Timmerhuis and Markthal. Architects MVRDV designed the first covered market for the Netherlands with a huge market floor under a great arch of apartments, combined with restaurants and underground parking.

Lonely Planet has included the city as one of sixteen destinations for the tourist who wants a walk-through architectural experience, and a new wind-turbine hotel is now being planned as an architectural eye-catcher while being energy efficient.

Picture credit: Rotterdam Partners, 2016