Urban Culture

The urban scene in Rotterdam is a widely discussed and controversial subject. It is also a subject that is constantly on the local political agenda of the government. From a societal perspective, is Rotterdam’s urban culture worth all this time, worry and effort and if so, does this requires legal intervention on behalf of politics. Central in this research is the following question: ‘What is the societal meaning of the urban scene in Rotterdam?’ The urban scene of Rotterdam can be traced back to, in general, the music scene in a big city. Music scenes, or cultural scenes, always have cultural, economic and social value for a city. Depending on the type of scene, one value can be stronger visible force than another. In Rotterdam, this urban scene, as the derivative of a hip-hop scene, has a strong social value. Rotterdam is a city with a metropolitan feel and is the youngest and one of the most multicultural city in the Netherlands. This makes it no surprise that urban culture is big here; the metropolitan characteristics fit the features of hip-hop: diversity and creativity. Hip-hop and so urban, is a sub-culture and youth culture which is supported all across the world, but gets a local character in every place. As it does in Rotterdam as well. The research is done from out a ‘multiple method design’, where both qualitative (interviews and participation) and quantitative (surveys) methods are used. Views and behaviour towards urban culture in Rotterdam has been analysed among involved parties as well as the youth itself. It is remarkable that the results show that we cannot speak just of an urban scene in Rotterdam, but rather an urban culture. Nevertheless it turns out that the theoretical frame drawn in this research is also applicable on this subject, the urban culture of Rotterdam. This is also underlined by the results: The urban culture in Rotterdam has a strong societal meaning and is especially significant when we consider this is a youth culture, where adolescents and younger people gather because of similar taste. Urban culture is predominantly one centred around leading itself, creating trends and being innovative. And while the word urban has traditionally been viewed with negative meaning, intervention from municipal government is therefore not necessary and even unwanted. This research is an extension of already existing, more general theory about music scenes. It also gives insight in the urban culture of Rotterdam, which is a difficult subject. Apart from the theoretical addition, there is also a practical side. For the proper authorities in Rotterdam, this thesis might give more information to a subject that has been on the political agenda for such a long time, but was never really captured.