Rotterdam space

And indeed, there are places in Rotterdam where the emptiness is becoming bare. On the other hand, the abundance of space in the city is a certain quality. It gives room to move. This can result in a sense of freedom. In practical terms, certain festivals that are held in the city owe their existence to the fact that there is enough room to do something extra.

A precise comparison between the inner cities of Amsterdam, The Hague and Rotterdam shows that the differences are much smaller than might be thought. The city centre of Amsterdam seems compact, but when the area of open space is measured, it turns out that it is not much fuller than Rotterdam. The Hague appears to be the most built-up of the three major cities.

These results are of course averages. What is striking in the structure of Rotterdam is that small spaces and narrow streets are interspersed with large open spaces. The differences are huge, much greater than in the other cities. It is the wider main roads that stand out compared to The Hague and Amsterdam. The Rotterdammer often uses the main roads or is forced to cross them with some regularity. They are therefore an inescapable part of the Rotterdam mental map. If we then refer back to the feeling of emptiness in Rotterdam, it can be deduced that certain open spaces are apparently becoming dominant in our image.

In addition, everyone expects a European city to densify the centre in relation to its edges. In Rotterdam, the opposite is the case. The center is emptier than most of the surrounding neighborhoods. Due to its design and openness, the urban core does not meet the idea of a cosy Dutch city centre. As a result, the expectation is not met time and time again. The impression of Rotterdam as an empty city may be unjustified, but its image is permanently cultivated by daily experiences and a mismatch between expectation and reality.