ROTTERDAM SPECIAL September 2015 A city re-inventing itself This publication This document was published in September 2015. The data used in the charts and tables is the latest available at the time of going to press. Sources are included for all the charts. We have used a standard set of notes and abbreviations throughout the document. September 2015 Actions speak louder than words Rotterdam can easily be regarded as the most dynamic city of the Netherlands. It is the only Dutch city with a true skyline. A skyline that will only get denser in CONTENTS the years to come as more and more high-rise buildings are delivered. It is a city where architecture is used to enhance the quality of life and to revive parts of the city which were lagging behind. It is a city where institutional, top-down schemes METROPOLITAN AREA go well together with smaller, local and often private contributions. A city where page 04 the slogan “actions speak louder than words” is central in its thinking. And thus a city that continuously invests in itself, not in order to compete with other cities, but simply because it has to; it is in its DNA. POPULATION Savills hope you will find valuable information in this report. Information which page 06 might make you consider investing in Rotterdam and become part of this dynamic city. ECONOMY page 08 EDUCATION page 10 RESIDENTIAL MARKET page 12 OFFICE MARKET page 14 RETAIL page 16 HOTEL page 18 INVESTORS IN ROTTERDAM page 20 WORLD CITY RANKINGS page 22 LOOKING TO THE FUTURE page 24 savills.com/research 03 Rotterdam Special Metropolitan Area Rotterdam, which has the largest port in Europe, is an international centre of transport and industry. Amsterdam has become the commercial and financial centre and is the most important tourist attraction among the four cities. The Hague is situated on the coast and houses the Dutch government and parliament as well as numerous international public bodies. Utrecht is not only a national road and railway hub, but also the location for a large Rotterdam is part of the Randstad At European and global level it is number of IT companies. The Randstad not so much individual countries is home to many of the top Dutch conurbation, which houses almost that compete with one another, but industries, including manufacturing, half of the Dutch population. rather major urban regions. The city chemicals, logistics, water, energy, life of Rotterdam is part of the greater science and the creative industry. The metropolitan area called Randstad, national government actively supports home to 7.8 million inhabitants and developments in these top knowledge- compromising Amsterdam, Rotterdam, intensive sectors as they can make a The Hague, Utrecht and several substantial contribution to solutions to smaller cities. ‘Het Groene Hart’, a large global social problems as well as offer agricultural and leisure area protected plenty of opportunities for exports to by the government, forms the green the global market. heart of this area. This makes the Randstad economically What makes the Randstad special is the strong. If the region were represented polycentric structure and the built-in as a single metropolitan area, it would flexibility that comes with it. Where come third in Europe after London other metropolitan cities have a relative and Paris. The Dutch government aims small city centre and large suburban to strengthen this position without area, the Randstad consists of city-hubs, turning it into a densely populated each with a complementary focus. metropolis. 4 September 2015 The excellent infrastructure in the FIGURE 1 Randstad sets itself apart from other Randstad polycentric structure metropoles. It has the best motorway networks in the world, fast railway connections, two airports and two harbours. By train it takes less than 40 minutes to travel from Rotterdam to Amsterdam or Utrecht and around 25 minutes to reach The Hague or Schiphol airports. Both airports in the Randstad are growing. In 2014 the number of travellers served by Schiphol airport grew by 4.6% to almost 55 million and additionally 1.6 million tonnes of cargo were handled. This makes Schiphol the fifth largest airport in Europe in terms of passengers and the third largest in terms of cargo volume. Rotterdam airport is situated right at the northern edge of the city of Rotterdam. The airport welcomed 1.7 million travellers in 2014, a substantial 70% increase since 2009. The Masterplan for this airport foresees further growth towards 2.4 million passengers annually. 18% 12% 5% Rotterdam Partners, 2015 FIGURE 2 9% Top sectors Concentrated in the73% Randstad 83% AGRI & FOODS CULTURE CHEMICALS MANUFACTURING 18% 12% 5% BRAINPORT SERVICES LIFE SCIENCES & HEALTH HORTICULTURE 18% 12% 5% WATER ENERGY LOGISTICS CREATIVE SERVICES 18% 12% Schouwburgplein (Ossip van Duivenbode, 2014) 5% PBL, 2014 5 Rotterdam Special Population Schiedam (76,870 inhabitants), Vlaardingen (71,650), Capelle aan den IJssel (66,480), Barendrecht (47,520) and Ridderkerk (45,150). The number of inhabitants in Rotterdam is forecasted to grow by 6.9% to around 668,100 in 2040. This growth will take place across most age groups with the exception of the 20-45 age group. As can be expected with the general ageing of the population, the age group over While the city promotes its hands- Since the 19th century, Rotterdam 65 years of age will grow fastest, from has been an important harbour city. 93,200 currently to 142,400 in 2040 on blue collar mentality, The city benefits from its favourable (+49,200). Consequently, the share of it also increasingly attracts higher location for transhipment to and from this age group will also increase, from mainland Europe. As the ships became 15.1% to 21.3%. This, however, is still income, creative individuals. larger, the municipality decided to build substantially lower than the national a new canal: the ‘Nieuwe Waterweg’. average (17.8% currently and 26.5% in This canal contributed to the rapid 2040). growth of the harbour, stretching 40 km from the city centre and boosting For the housing market the increase in the economy of the larger Rotterdam number of households is an even more agglomeration. This attracted important indicator. This number will workers from all over the world and grow from 310,400 currently to around the increase in population turned 335,000 in 2040 (+8.0%). The great Rotterdam into the second largest city majority of households in Rotterdam in the Netherlands. concern single-person households. Currently 46.7% of the households fit The population of Rotterdam is in this category, growing to 49.1% in currently 624,400 inhabitants. 2040. It is thus also the group showing Rotterdam is surrounded by a large the largest growth in numbers: from number of smaller cities, including 145,100 to 164,600 (+13.4%). While FIGURE 3 FIGURE 4 Inhabitants Development & Forecast Households Forecast Data CBS & PBL, 2015 6 September 2015 these single-person households often concern young people studying and working in Rotterdam, a fair share of them concern the elderly age group. Disposable household income in Rotterdam amounts to €27,800 per year, being 15.2% lower than the national average (€32,800). The districts of Charlois, Delfshaven and Feijenoord are known as working class neighbourhoods. Around 16.7% of the households are part of the highest income group, which is overrepresented in the city center, Prins Alexander and Hillegersberg- Schiebroek. Rotterdam still has a blue- collar worker image, which many in the city seek to cultivate. This even shows in the official hymn for Feyenoord, the largest football club in Rotterdam, which states “geen woorden maar daden” or “actions speak louder than words”. Beneath this image however, there is a growing creative movement of knowledge workers in Rotterdam. The flourishing business services 18% 12% sector attracts young professionals 5% throughout the region and even from Amsterdam, where it is increasingly difficult to find affordable housing. To put this into numbers: the share of highly educated people in the Rotterdam workforce has increased from 23% in 2003 to 36% currently. While this still falls short of the 52% in Amsterdam, it is now higher than the 34% national average and shows a Rotterdam in transition. This transition is also visible in the housing market, where many of the new high rise apartment buildings, primarily situated in the centre and the Kop van Zuid, are aimed at the higher income part of the population. This gentrification trend is changing the image of Rotterdam from a blue collar city to a modern high rise metropolis connected to the largest harbour in Europe. Holland Amerika Lijn (Clair Droppert, 2011) 7 Rotterdam Special Economy which is very much focused on the high tech cluster, with companies like Philips, ASML and NXP. To further enhance the economy of the Rotterdam Region, the harbour area is now being extended with the “Maasvlakte 2”. Around 2,000 ha of land has been reclaimed from the sea and here the newest and largest container ships can unload. Being a harbour city Rotterdam The Rotterdam economy is linked Despite the economic growth, the tightly with the performance of the employment rate in Rotterdam is profits from the increase in global harbour and therefore depends still lagging behind other cities in trade. substantially on international trade. the Netherlands and stood at a high As the global economy is growing 12.3% at the start of 2015, very much and as forecasts are positive, this influenced by the still large share of immediately reflects in the local lower educated people in the city. GDP and employment figures. The While Rotterdam is very much oriented GDP of the Rotterdam metropolitan towards the logistics and industrial area has grown by 1.4% in 2014, sectors, the number of jobs in these considerably more than the 0.9% for sectors have declined.