We visited another campus of InHolland today. This campus was in Rotterdam and offered courses relating to business and law.
When we arrived, we took a tour around the campus and part of the city. Rotterdam is a historic city that does not have many historical buildings still standing. Rotterdam was almost completely decimated following World War II. As the Germans were retreating, they bombed the city relentlessly. Roughly 300k people were killed and 85% of the city was destroyed. The entirety of Rotterdam had to be rebuilt. This is why Rotterdam is more reflective of a modern American city. Rotterdam is more car-centric than other European cities. It is also facing a housing crisis, which does not directly correlate to the “American-ness” of the city. The Netherlands in general is facing a housing crisis, especially in Amsterdam and Rotterdam. To solve this, Rotterdam is building more skyscrapers, some of which are in the harbor near InHolland. The city has plans for “land reclamation” in which they add sand to the harbor to build a skyscraper and a beach. One of the professors at InHolland explained that this could be the city’s attempts to further separate the rich from the poor.
Rotterdam has been changing a lot over the past decades. Gentrification is rampant. We were shown a building on the harbor that was low-income housing twenty years ago but is now a luxury apartment. This is the same for the surrounding area as well. Where there used to be one school for everyone in the area, a new school is being built. This school, however, just caters to the rich students. This type of division is leading to “ghettos” forming in which the lower class cannot escape. The skyscrapers mentioned before also can be interpreted as being a physical barrier between the rich and the poor due to their location.
The professor also spoke about how the city is investing in spaces for the community in what is called the “place-making process”. These places include green spaces and more walkable areas. However, this process is difficult. Rotterdam is planning on creating 8 urban parks. Due to the city being extremely diverse (it contains people from 180 different nationalities and 55% are not Dutch/are migrants), the needs of residents vary greatly. Stakeholders also need to be thought of. Stakeholders do not want to invest in programs that do not work. Small-scale parks and areas have been implemented but issues regarding use have arisen. Additionally, stakeholders are more involved in the business aspect of green spaces. They ask questions such as Who would use these spaces? Who benefits from these spaces? Who’s best interest is favored: the stakeholders or citizens? City planners and engineers must balance all these questions and make a solution that satisfies at least a majority of the concerns and needs of the consumers.
We were also given a tour of the InHolland – Rotterdam campus. The campus itself is beautiful. The space promotes collaboration as there are many large desks and sitting areas for students. The school also offers many programs that relate to community involvement. There is a law center in which community members can go to students and get legal help/representation. Additionally, many classes at InHolland-Rotterdam have hands-on learning. For example, one of the professors told us about a project these students were working on in which they created a safe street for women to walk down at night. This street was brightly lit and flashed the names of women in LED lights to remind men that they have a woman in their life too. He also showed us a project in the elevator created by one of his students that encouraged conversation between students.
The cultural differences between upper education in the Netherlands and USA were interesting to learn about as well. In the Netherlands, the amount you pay for higher education is regulated by the government. For InHolland and other public schools, it is usually under $5k per year for students from countries part of the European Union. For private universities like the University fo Amsterdam, it is a little more expensive but still cheaper than the US. Universities–both private and public– receive government funding so they are able to keep tuition rates low. Additionally, acceptance is not dependent on test scores unless you are going into a competitive specialized field (i.e. dentist). If you want to go to college, you can just go to college. Students also have less time for classes. It’s roughly 20 hours per week for class which eventually reduces to 10 as upperclassmen.
In total I enjoyed learning about InHolland and the history of Rotterdam.