Urban Regeneration in Rotterdam: Economic and Social Values

Development of economic and social values is regarded as a key factor in urban development and urban regeneration. With its history of urban renewal and regeneration since the 1970s, Rotterdam provides an example to assess the profound changes from a socialized mode of housing provision and urban renewal towards more market-oriented strategies. In this light, new forms of gentrification are becoming a regular strategy in former urban renewal areas, mainly dominated by social housing. The paper examines the development of economic and social values in areas of Rotterdam that have been transformed through the vast urban renewal and subsequent regeneration programs. Mostly these programs are area-based approaches that got priority in more European countries.