Capturing the Young and the Restless

Summary Highly educated people are endowed with a high level of human capital which is found to be the main driver for urban economic growth. In addition, as moving probabilities decrease for the individuals after the age of around 25, the highly educated people are most easily attracted around that age, and the probability of losing them as a city, decreases with time. Hence, cities should the attract young and highly educated to stimulate their economy. However, Rotterdam has the lowest share of highly educated people among the four largest Dutch cities. In addition, Rotterdam fails to attract the young population when other cities succeed. With 60.000 students enrolled in higher education institutions in Rotterdam, the city has access to a large source of young and highly educated people. Therefore, this research aims to analyze how Rotterdam can attract and retain the young and highly educated population. More specifically, it aims to analyze how perceptions, preferences and personal characteristics effect the overall judgment on Rotterdam. A questionnaire was designed and distributed during different lectures. This resulted in a sample consisting of 580 respondents. The statistical analyses yielded three main results. First, the student population is highly diverse, and four groups can be distinguished based on their preference for urban environments and their overall opinion of Rotterdam. Second, the more experience a respondent has with Rotterdam, the more positive the student is about the city. This result is very comforting for the municipal office as it implies that once the student has been attracted, the probability of retaining them increases with time. Third, the intangible aspects of Rotterdam, such as coziness and openness, appear to have a strong effect on the overall opinion of the city. Based on these results, three main policy recommendations for the policy makers in Rotterdam can be formulated. First, policy makers should acknowledge that the student population is diverse and specify the marketing efforts to each group. In addition, not every group can easily be won, therefore the city should concentrate their efforts. Second, policy makers should not abolish current student initiative such as Student City or RotterdamLife, but rather expand. A more integrated approach with the private sector, student associations and housing corporations should be presented at a central location on campus Woudestein. Lastly, change the city marketing approach to enhance the image of a cozy and open city