Abstract
Cities are by definition artificial human environments: typical urban elements like streets, buildings and squares are made with materials such as asphalt, bricks, steel, stone and glass. Cities are hence tangible objects with a very concrete materiality. Consequently, urban transformations in post-industrial cities are primarily understood as a process of reshaping the tangible aspects of urban environmentsā as the word trans-form-a(c)tion suggests ā like tearing down old buildings, repaving roads, and redesigning squares and buildings.
And yet, cities are also composed by intangible elements, which are often invisible or not immediately perceptible. Policy narratives and storytelling can greatly shape urban transformations, and hide certain aspects while emphasising others. In our everyday experience of post-industrial urban environments, we might not be aware of sensors and antennas scattered around the city and that are collecting, real-time, data about us. Or we might not perceive invisible boundaries between neighbourhoods, and superficially abandoned buildings can host vibrant community spaces. Moreover, some key urban elements, like water or sewage infrastructure, are carefully hidden from sight and placed underground, but can also be emphasised and become an urban landmark.
The CityLab Rotterdam invites students to go beyond the appearances of city materiality and urban transformations and, instead, perceive the urban beyond its surface of what is visible. What is made visible and even emphasised, and what is hidden or toned down? And how can we fine-tune our senses to perceive the multiple (and secret?) codes and messages that are co-existing in post-industrial cities?
To reply to these questions, the CityLab Rotterdam provides 5 themes to allow students to explore the continuum (or tension?) between visible and invisible, tangible and intangible dimensions of urban transformations and experiences in post-industrial cities. During the CityLab Rotterdam, students will perform city investigations by applying methodologies that are specifically tailored to train our ability to perceive how the urban environment ālooksā like (or āsmell,ā, āsounds,ā etc.) and to adjust our senses to detect aspects and frequencies that are not immediately apparent.
Track overview and summary
Building on the CityLabās core focus on the visibility and invisibility of urban transformations and experiences, we propose three tracks, each overseen by two members of the organising committee, and aligned with the four main tracks of RePIC as per short descriptions below.
Beyond the visible/invisible continuum, the three tracks might explore other continua, such as tangible/intangible, local/global, inside/outside, before/after, below/under, included/excluded, and whose selective combination characterises each track.
Coordinators: dr. Beatriz Calzada Olvera & dr. Qian Ke
This track explores how technological innovation, sustainability transitions, and urban resilience strategies reshape post-industrial urban environments. By analysing observable transformations in the urban space of one neighbourhood in Rotterdam, students will critically examine how climate adaptation infrastructure and the repurposing of industrial and port sites influence economic activity, environmental resilience, and urban liveability.
Connected to RePIC Track 1: Urban Transformations and Resilience & RePIC Track 3: Urban Analysis: Smart, Sustainable and Resilient Cities
Coordinators: dr. Sofia Pagliarin & dr. Anitra Baliga
Through a structured, time-based approach to the analysis of urban change in two selected neighbourhoods, students will investigate the recent urban history of Rotterdam as a post-industrial city, and focus on the powerful role of stories and discourse in shaping urban transformation.
Connected to RePIC Track 4: Governance of Post-Industrial Cities
Preliminary programme
Students will work in groups to explore and analyse the in/visible dimensions as they manifest in post-industrial urban environments by following theory and method lectures, participating in both guided and independent urban explorations, and by submitting a short video as a group assignment. In the last day of the CityLab (Friday 11th September), students will finalise their presentations on their on-going assignment and present them at the closing event of the CityLab.
| CityLab Rotterdam Beyond the surface: the in/visibility of urban transformations and experiences | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Time Zone: CEST | Monday, 7th September | Tuesday, 8th September | Wednesday, 9th September | Thursday, 10th September | Friday, 11th September | |
| 09:00-10:30 | Theory session per track | |||||
| 11:00-12:30 | Welcome, Orientation & Group formation | Methods session per track | Track-specific tutorial session | Track-specific tutorial session (incl. on presentation) | Track-specific tutorial session (incl. on presentation) | |
| 13:30-15:00 | Excursion in Rotterdam | Guided track-specific excursion in Rotterdam | Hands-on training on video-making | Independent city exploration & data collection | Presentation of work-in-progress video assignments | |
| 15:30-17:00 | Independent city exploration & data collection | |||||
Assignment
The ability to effectively and meaningfully communicate specialised knowledge to a wider public is an essential skill in our highly complex and diverse contemporary societies. How to convey specialised knowledge to general audiences and practitioners on different aspects characterising post-industrial cities by presenting both abstract and concrete information, and without overtly simplifying the complexity of the urban?
The participants to the CityLab Rotterdam will have the opportunity to develop this relevant communication skill by working in small groups (max. 3 people) and submitting a video assignment, i.e., a video essay or vlog.
As a video assignment, students will have to originally elaborate upon the main theme of the CityLab by reflecting upon the visible and invisible aspects of post-industrial cities through the specific theoretical and methodological lenses of the track they followed. They will also be invited to include content related to their personal urban experience in post-industrial Rotterdam, and also to intertwine the in/visibility of urban elements and people through soundscapes.
An exciting aspect of this assignment is that the videos will be published online (with the consent of the authors) and available to former, current and prospective RePIC students and staff.
By following the track-specific theoretical and methodological sessions, students will be required to submit the following group assignments:
- A short (max. 10 minutes) group presentation to be presented in the afternoon of the final day of the CityLab (Friday 11th September 2026) on their work-in-progress assignment;
- A short (max. 10 minutes) video to be shared on institutional social media website (with the consent of the authors). The video assignment will have to be submitted within 4 weeks after the CityLab, that is on 9th October 2026 at 17:00 CEST.
To prepare for the group assignments at best, students will follow track-specific tutorials with their lecturers on the third and fourth day of the CityLab. The tutorials have the goal to discuss ideas for the video assignment and receive feedback.
The students will also follow a hands-on tutorial on video-making and post-production to submit appropriate and semi-professional short videos. Students are expected to record videos with their smartphones, and post-production (using a recommended software by the lecturers) should be sufficient but minimal.
Video assignments are track-specific and students will be divided into smaller groups composed of 3 people within each track. The Terms of Reference (ToR) specific to both group presentation and video assignment will be shared with students in due time. The videos should also include 1-2 policy implications or recommendations based on the performed analysis to be shared with local stakeholders during the closing event of the CityLab.
