In 1962 Rotterdam became the world's busiest and biggest port in the world. The port of Shanghai took over this title in 2004. However, Rotterdam still is the biggest port in Europe. An extensive project named Maasvlakte 2 started in 2008 and will significantly enlarge the harbour area. The balance between economy and environment that was negotiated makes it a unique project. The harbour is the past, the present and the future of Rotterdam.
Hefbrug 1930
Hefbrug 2008
Nowadays Rotterdam is architecture capital of the Netherlands. Highrise buildings are being developed and old harbour areas are being transformed into urban areas mixing the old and the new. One of the eyecatchers obviously is the Erasmusbridge that connects the southern suburbs with the city centre on the North shore of the river Maas. It was finished in 1996 and designed by Ben van Berkel.
Rotterdam has developed into a multicultural city with 580.000 inhabitants (2008) with over 170 nationalities. The city was voted best festival city in The Netherlands for 3 times since 2001. Yearly events such as the International Film Festival (Jan/Feb), the Fortis Marathon (Apr), Ortel Summercarnaval (Jul), Bavaria City Racing (Aug), the Gergiev Festival (Aug/Sept) and the World Port Days (Sept) are only a few of the popular events that take place in Rotterdam.
In the years ahead Rotterdam will continue developing the city. In 2011 the new Central Station is planned to be finished being a transitterminal for train, tram, metro and bus. New architectural highlights are being planned for the city center and a new shopping area will be built.
The Rotterdam Climate Initiative will play an important role on the Rotterdam agenda in the future. In this initiative the city offers a platform for government, organizations, companies and citizens to work together on a fifty percent reduction of CO2 emissions while at the same time promoting the regional economy. Rotterdam works together with the Clinton Climate Initiative to realise the plans.
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