Iconic Rotterdam, a Marketed City

This thesis investigates the experience and behavior of residents in Rotterdam and the surrounding Rijnmond region concerning the recently developed iconic architecture and city marketing strategies. Rotterdam is increasingly popular for tourists to visit and for companies to settle in. Regularly, this city appears in the media for its attractive atmosphere and modern architectural environment. Rotterdam is known as the ‘city of architecture’ in the Netherlands and actively started promoting this image through city marketing strategies several years ago. The motivation to use city marketing strategies is to regenerate the city and make it a more vibrant and economically active place. The city council is investing in city marketing to attract more tourists and companies to the city. In policy statements Rotterdam claims that the architecture is also valuable for the residents to create an attractive living environment. The concepts in the policy of Rotterdam concerning residents are creating identity, urban regeneration and image creation. These concepts are studied in the theoretical part of this thesis and are also reflected in the empirical part. This thesis aims to reveal the importance and value of developing iconic architecture in Rotterdam for the residents of this city. A quantitative (survey) research method was performed to collect data amongst the residents of Rotterdam and the Rijnmond region. The results support the assumption that residents appreciate the new iconic architecture in Rotterdam and that it makes the city a more attractive place to reside. This is mainly a passive appreciation; residents are rarely involved in architectural events and activities. The increasing popularity and amount of tourists is experienced as a positive element in the livability of the city center. Residents do fear to lose ‘their city’ and uniqueness when tourist rates become too high.