Berlin learns from Rotterdam – Rotterdam learns from Berlin
An inspiring visit from the German capital! De Zwarte Hond had the pleasure of welcoming a delegation from the Berlin Senate Department for Urban Development to Rotterdam.
Together with Lars Loebner, Head of the Housing Projects Department for the Outer City, and his colleagues, De Zwarte Hond visited Rotterdam South to explore what has been developed there over the past years. Not as a showcase of success, but as an honest assessment: What works? What do residents need? And what lessons can be transferred to other cities? Rotterdam South is a vibrant and complex urban district with real people, real contradictions, and a real history. For decades, ambitious and well-intentioned urban plans have been implemented here. And still, not everyone benefits from the investments being made. There is a growing risk of two worlds existing side by side — within the same city, but disconnected from one another.
What does this have to do with Berlin? Quite a lot. Berlin faces similar districts with similar challenges, policy decisions that often fail to reflect the needs of residents, and government departments working in parallel rather than together — despite the fact that integrated collaboration is essential to address these issues. These are not uniquely Rotterdam or Berlin problems. They are challenges shared by European cities.
That is why the approaches to solving them are also similar: viewing neighbourhoods not in isolation, but as part of a larger whole. Transforming car-oriented infrastructure into pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly cities. Bringing jobs and education closer to where people live. Breaking down silo thinking — between municipal departments, between districts, and between social groups. And above all: placing trust in the people who live in these neighbourhoods.
Many thanks to Lars Loebner and the staff of the Berlin Senate Department for the open and honest conversation. Urban development needs these kinds of exchanges — not as conference tourism, but as genuine knowledge sharing.