At 9:15 this morning, we took the tram to Inholland University at their Rotterdam campus. This campus offers undergraduate degrees in business and law. When we got to the university, we went on a tour of the surrounding area, which mainly focused on the architecture. Because Rotterdam was bombed after World War II and 85% of the city was destroyed, it has sort of become a playground for new architecture. Most of the architecture in Rotterdam is more modern than in the typical European city, and much of it takes inspiration from Manhattan. The Inholland faculty kept asking us to reflect on the role of cars in the city, and they mentioned how, because much of it was built in the 21st century, it centers around cars. I definitely think that it is more car-centric than other Dutch cities, like Amsterdam, but I don’t think that it is nearly as car-dependent as almost every U.S. city. In practically every U.S. city, you need a car to get from one side to the other, but in Rotterdam, we are getting around just fine using the tram and metro. It is still disappointing to see that the city is prioritizing cars over pedestrians, like most American cities.
They also spoke on social sustainability and how Rotterdam is having problems with gentrification because of unaffordable housing and the companies that are building the housing aren’t thinking of the people that are going to live in these spaces. Many of the companies building these spaces are thinking from a top-down perspective, meaning they are thinking about the big picture of how luxurious and profitable the buildings could be, instead of focusing on the individuals who will be living and using the areas. For example, land is being reclaimed from the delta to build high rises along the water, and then they are going to build a beach in front of them. The Inholland faculty discussed the problems with their plans, including the fact that the area is currently used for illegal activities and that the high rises are going to block the sun from the beach. They really emphasized how this top-down approach is leading to poor urban planning and a socially unsustainable city.
On a more positive note, they also noted how the port of Rotterdam was moved about 40km away from the city after the war. The main reasons for this were to mitigate environmental safety concerns associated with the port such as pollution and congestion. The city is also trying to incorporate more green spaces throughout, which should help significantly with the sustainability of the city. Not only will they help with environmental sustainability by acting as a stormwater management system, but they will also help with social sustainability by bringing communities together and improving the quality of life for all living there.
We also saw some really neat potential solutions to the housing crisis in Rotterdam. We passed by some floating houses on our walking tour that are currently being used as rentals but are being experimented with as potential housing. In relation to concept to customer, I thought this was really interesting because of the way they are being rented out and experimented with before the manufacturers will actually implement and sell them to consumers. Instead of building them on a large scale at first, they only made a few of them to see if they would be viable and marketable solutions to the housing crisis.
After the walking tour, we listened to one of Inholland’s study abroad faculty speak on the university. We were able to hear the painful information on how cheap university is here compared to the States as well. I was intrigued to hear that many of the students from this university want to study abroad in the U.S. (for Dutch university prices, of course). We were told that they often want the American college campus experience and the dorm life. I find this interesting and funny because I don’t think that most Americans enjoy living in a dorm and one of the reasons I chose Pitt was because it didn’t have the traditional American college campus. It is more of a city campus instead, and kind of more similar to a European university’s campus. I just thought that it was interesting to see that they want the experience that we have and I want more of the independent experience they get. We also took a quiz on the Netherlands afterward, and I didn’t do too well, unfortunately.
We left the university around 3:00, and about half of the group went to The Hague. We did some shopping at vintage stores, walked around the city, and then we ate a delicious dinner and had gelato afterward.