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Rotterdam - Paris

River flooding and adaptable river fronts

Both Paris and Rotterdam are cities connected to the hinterland by their rivers: Rotterdam by the river Meuse and Paris by the Seine.

Both cities are faced with growing problems of river flooding due to climate change. Last winter the water in the Seine became so high that they had to close down the famous Louvre museum. In the Netherlands, and also in Rotterdam most areas are protected against the water by dikes, but not all of them.

Former harbour areas called city harbours that have been or are going to be transformed into residential areas are outside of these dikes and thus prone to flooding. How can we protect our cities against river flooding and how can we make our quays and the urban structure climate adaptive?

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General focus in this project

  • water management
  • civil engineering
  • urban planning and design
  • environmental engineering