Work in Progress
The port of Rotterdam as a working city for intergenerational justice within the energy transition
M.G.L. Haan (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)
R.M.T. Hartog (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)
P.S. Rosdorff (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)
R. Venturi (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)
R. Ayu Emilia Zahra (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)
A. Wandl – Mentor (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)
M.M. Dabrowski – Mentor (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)
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Abstract
The port of Rotterdam is undergoing an energy transition to lower emissions and tackle climate change. This transition threatens to leave its workers behind. A workforce of 192,000 people faces automation, skill displacement, and growing inequality. The transition is being planned around infrastructure and investment, not around people. That is why this report aims to answer the question ‘’How can the Port of Rotterdam shift from oil-based refinery toward renewable-based energy systems in a way that secures inclusive, intergenerational employment justice, and strengthens its role as a North Sea energy hub?’’ Through research and analysis, a spatial design was developed to address the community’s wishes, supported by a framework based on physical, mental, and social layers. Keeping in mind the importance of circularity and the multiple stakeholders, this project uses six different mechanisms to assess the outcome of the project.
Governance must become participatory and spatially explicit. Policies must be tested, adapted, and held accountable to the communities they affect. The port's next chapter is written not by infrastructure alone, but by the people who build, operate, and inhabit it. They need an integrated territorial system that links energy production to social reproduction. By introducing an educational corridor, workforce transition pathways, affordable locally produced energy and mixed-use neighbourhoods, this project aims to fill the gaps caused by the transition. By 2100, the Port of Rotterdam will be more than an engine of trade; it will be a living city where work, energy, and community are inseparable. Every worker, regardless of age, origin, or gender, should feel a sense of belonging. This project prioritises the liveability, safety, connectivity and inclusivity to reach for inter- and intragenerational justice within the energy transition.