Waterfront regeneration in the Netherlands: The gases of Rotterdam and Maastricht

The regeneration of obsolescent urban waterfront areas has proved to be a recent focus of urban policy throughout Europe. Despite an apparent convergence in the practice of waterfront regeneration within European cities, such practice in the Netherlands has evolved in a distinctive manner. The latest manifestation of a policy response has been the designation of ‘key projects’, for which waterfront areas in Rotterdam and Maastricht have been selected. The resulting proposals for integrated, mixed‐use development schemes would appear to present a relatively sophisticated response to the problem of declining waterfront areas.