ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the 'Kop-van-Zuid' project, a large-scale scheme to develop deserted harbour grounds opposite the city centre, as an illustration of a new urban policy which was adopted in the second half of the 1980s. Rotterdam is a characteristic example of a city at the 'reurbanisation' stage. After years of population losses, lately the records have shown a slight growth. The economy of the Rotterdam region is dominated by the harbour, which counts as the world's greatest. Regional administration in and around Rotterdam has always been related to the development of the harbour, which has a habit of reaching beyond city boundaries. Political conditions have on the whole been favourable to the ROM-Rijnmond project. The dramatic effects of the energy crises during the mid- and late 1970s put an end to the sustainability of the strongly social-oriented policy which had been pursued in Rotterdam since the early 1970s.
