One of Europe's most underrated cities is shining in 2025

Sydney Morning Herald

06-05-2025

'Instead, I wanted to do something that benefitted the city.'
The city of Rotterdam and its citizens take pride in that 'something': the focus of most new developments is how they can improve the quality of life for locals, rather than being built for tourists.
This theme continues with the construction of the Hofbogen: the repurposing of an abandoned, above-ground train viaduct from the city centre to the north, inspired by the success of New York's High Line. Progress has been slow but steady: the once-abandoned arched workshops underneath have been filled with businesses, from salons to bespoke furniture makers, artisans and coffee roasters. In January 2024, a new food hall opened in the old train station at the halfway point, Station Bergweg, with patrons taking a beer, a bowl of ramen or a box of chocolates from a vending machine to eat on the station terrace, with views overlooking the city.
However, the decision to revitalise the next stage of the Hofbogen involves starting construction from the outer fringe of the city and finishing in the CBD last, so the locals get the initial benefit.
Of course, tourists aren't neglected: in the coming year, there will be a flourish of new hotels and museums. One of the few historic buildings in the city centre to escape destruction in WWII was (for nefarious reasons) the old post office. In 2026, the building will open as the new five-star 224-room Kimpton Hotel.
Reopening in late 2025 is the Nederlands Fotomuseum, in a newly renovated, heritage-listed building on the Rijnhaven, a harbour in the city's north. Home to more than six million photos, the new Dutch National Photo Museum will occupy the old Santos coffee factory on the harbour.
Just a short walk away, construction continues on one of Europe's most important new museums, the FENIX Museum of Immigration, set to open in May 2025. A giant silver tornado, both a work of art and a viewing platform, glistens in the morning sun, rising from the centre of the historic warehouse building.
The museum will focus on the human experience of immigration, examining the phenomenon through contemporary art and documentary photography. More than 200 pieces have already been commissioned and acquired, but central to the museum is its planned ground-floor installation known as The Maze. In the past three years, the museum has interviewed thousands of migrants and collected 2000 or so suitcases belonging to the storytellers to physically complement their stories. Each suitcase will form part of a labyrinth designed to allow visitors complete immersion in the migrant experience, and the challenges faced when trying to navigate it.
The location of the museumFENIX is particularly poignant: on the south bank of the Nieuwe Maas river system, it was once home to the world's largest warehouse, but was also the place where more than three million immigrants (including Albert Einstein) departed Europe with the Holland America Line, bound for the New World.
Before it became the museum site, the unrenovated warehouse was used as the Fenix Food Hall. The hipster hangout now sits next to the museum, underneath the new FENIX 1 housing development, the first of a series of apartment blocks revitalising the area.
The Rijnhaven, like the Steigergracht, was derelict and decayed for years – a crumbling port area in a rough neighbourhood most people avoided. Slowly the area has gentrified.
The addition of a small pedestrian bridge in 2012 created easier access for bike and foot traffic between the Katendrecht neighbourhood and the city. New apartment blocks and hotels including the NHow were built on the Wilhelmina Pier in 2014; the same year, a food hall opened in a warehouse previously abandoned for 40 years.
In 2021, the energy-positive, C02-negative, three-storey Floating Office with green roof opened, housing the Global Centre for Adaptation, and the city's quirkiest accommodation option, the Wikkelboat, opened on the water.
Six uniquely designed houseboats are moored on a pontoon walkway from the Rijnhaven's floating park, each made of 24 layers of wrapped, corrugated cardboard. They feature modular design, solar power and, I discover after three minutes of huffing and puffing, a retractable deck that reveals a sunken jacuzzi. Rotterdam (and largely The Netherlands) has strict rules on short-term apartment rentals. The Wikkelboat is a brilliant self-contained option to experience the city, with two bikes on the side ready to go, murphy beds to optimise space, and an outdoor shower to complement the indoor bathroom.
Settled in the jacuzzi, I look across to where a new beach and park is being constructed and where a series of skyscrapers have been approved. So far, more than a third of the harbour basin – exceeding eight hectares – has been drained and reclaimed for the 350,000-square-metre urban development, which will bring more than 2000 new homes and office blocks, floating parks and an educational tidal park.
But with temperatures today hitting more than 30 degrees, the city is preoccupied with Rotterdam's newest swimming spot, near Rijnhaven's first floating park and just 100 metres from the Wikkelboat. Clean water testing and record-busting temperatures mean every spot of grass and concrete on the floating park is taken up with bodies, beach towels and inflatables.
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Ten years ago, this harbour was so dirty I wouldn't dare put a toe in. However, I can't help myself. I haul out of the warm water in the jacuzzi, and dive off the side of the Wikkelboat, attracting the attention of a mother duck and eight ducklings. It is cold, and thankfully, clean.
Rotterdam isn't Europe's most beautiful city. It's not a top-tier European destination like Paris or Rome, Barcelona or London. But it's a place that embraces the future, and shows innovative European living at its finest. Want to see the real Europe? Rotterdam is ready.
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