ABSTRACT
Coast, rivers, the southwest delta, subsiding peat soils—Rotterdam has them all. Together, they produce large problems, but they also present major opportunities to transform and revitalize the metropolis. Rotterdam-South became one of the most problematic urban areas in the Netherlands after the port industries left the riverbanks of the central urban area during the 1980s and 1990s. Since the 1980s, the renewal of obsolete port areas has been linked to the goal of upgrading the conditions in Rotterdam-South through improved housing and creating more spatial coherence between the two parts of the city. The 2007 Stadsvisie Rotterdam also emphasizes the river by proposing the development of 10,000 houses in its floodplain. In Rotterdam-South especially, the strategy focuses on using the original topography and history of the area rather than building large-scale infrastructure that binds the northern and the southern urban areas together.
