Rotterdam is known as a city of icons, but how do you experience the city at neighbourhood level? The coming years will see many changes in the neighbourhoods where we live. More houses will be built and we have to take into account important tasks such as the climate and space for meeting places. New people are moving in; this means a different composition and perception of the neighbourhood. At the centre of these changes are the residents, those who know their neighbourhood best. What do they actually think of their neighbourhood? What goes well, what could be better?

The exhibition focuses on two characteristic Rotterdam neighbourhoods: Oude Westen and Groot-IJsselmonde. One neighbourhood was densely built on the 19th-century model and tackled during urban renewal from the 1970s onwards under the motto 'building for the neighbourhood'. The other neighbourhood was designed in the 1960s and 1970s as a garden city with lots of greenery, wide roads and public space. What are the differences and similarities when it comes to neighbourhood identity and residents' perceptions? And does the planned city - the design of buildings, streets and squares - influence the lived city?