Lara Almarcegui
Wastelands of the Port of Rotterdam

The Port of Rotterdam is being further enlarged with the creation of 2000 hectares of new land built into the sea near the mouth of the river Maas. The port area is going through a period of dramatic transformation during preparation for this Maasvlakte 2 project which not only involves gaining land, but also the expansion of transportation, infrastructure and the initiation of environmental compensation schemes. Several of the places that appear in this publication are unprotected and will disappear over the coming years as they are absorbed by the growing port. Other areas near Rotterdam, Schiedam and Vlaardingen were once centers of industry; for the moment they are home to largely neglected wastelands which persist alongside canals, docks, roads and railway tracks. Some of these wastelands will become green spaces, residential developments or even cultural areas – part of the regeneration process taking place throughout the port and city districts. Until then they are great empty gaps: neither natural areas nor industrial spaces, neither parks nor gardens.

These sites are some of the few in the Rotterdam area that have not yet been subjected to any design, or used for any particular purpose. Because they have been left alone, natural processes of decay, transition and entropy can be observed. Such processes are taking place everywhere yet are often hidden by the fabric of the city. These are inbetween places where almost anything is possible, where time seems to have slowed down. Independent of the rhythm of the port, they offer a paradise for unplanned vegetation and for other intrepid visitors – though perhaps not for much longer.

Almarcegui made a journal about these 'wastelands'. for the pdf click here