Structural engineer in Rotterdam

The local housing profile

Rotterdam has 328,408 homes, with 75% in multi-family buildings. Moving a wall within a larger residential building needs more than a new layout: the wall’s function and floor spanning direction must be clear. State the storey and available building drawings in your enquiry. This profile covers 9 official settlements; use the building address to identify your project location.

Within Zuid-Holland, 17.4% of residents live in the municipality of Rotterdam. The settlement classification dated 1 January 2026 lists 9 settlements here. These include Botlek Rotterdam, Europoort Rotterdam, Hoek van Holland, Hoogvliet Rotterdam. The population and housing figures on this page cover the entire municipality, including these settlements.

CBS — population (1 January 2025) · CBS — housing stock and dwelling types (2025) · CBS — officially registered settlements (1 January 2026)

Rotterdam compared with the province of Zuid-Holland

With 672,960 residents, Rotterdam ranks 1 among the 50 municipalities in Zuid-Holland, from largest to smallest population. The municipality accounts for 18.5% of the province’s housing stock and 8.1% of its land area. This shows the relationship between the number of homes and the area within this municipality.

Calculated population density in Rotterdam is 3,081 residents per km² of land, compared with 1,432 for the province of Zuid-Holland. This is an area comparison, not a measure of access to your building site. Describe access, available working space and adjoining buildings in your enquiry.

Reference date: 1 January 2025. Provincial totals are summed from municipal data; densities and shares are calculated from these totals. Rounded areas can produce small differences from directly published densities.

Soil and ground types

Within the boundaries of Rotterdam, map unit Mn35A covers the largest measured area of soil polygons in this analysis: 431 hectares, or 11.8% of the mapped area.

Original Dutch source name:

Kalkrijke poldervaaggronden; lichte klei, profielverloop 5

The shares are calculated within the soil polygons on the map, not across all land or all building addresses. For compound map codes, the name of the first unit is shown. The map describes shallow soil; built-up areas are not fully mapped. It does not establish bearing capacity or determine whether piles, pad footings or strip foundations should be used.

Explore subsurface data in BROloket · How the soil map can be used · Method and sources for these area profiles

Read about foundation investigations · Pad footing, pile or strip foundation?

How much renovation takes place?

The CBS tables used here do not provide a complete local renovation count for Rotterdam. We therefore do not estimate this from population, new homes or a national percentage. These sources also do not establish which type of renovation is most common.

See the available building figures and what they mean

Towns and villages within this municipality

The names below are officially registered BAG settlements from the 2026 CBS classification. One settlement may contain several neighbourhoods. The municipal figures above are not separate population counts for these villages.

• Botlek Rotterdam · Prepare your calculation enquiry
• Europoort Rotterdam · Prepare your calculation enquiry
• Hoek van Holland · Prepare your calculation enquiry
• Hoogvliet Rotterdam · Prepare your calculation enquiry
• Maasvlakte Rotterdam · Prepare your calculation enquiry
• Pernis Rotterdam · Prepare your calculation enquiry
• Rotterdam · Prepare your calculation enquiry
• Rozenburg · Prepare your calculation enquiry
• Vondelingenplaat Rotterdam · Prepare your calculation enquiry

Structural calculations for your project

Choose the alteration that matches your project. The linked service page describes the information needed, possible deliverables and points to consider. Site surveys, timing and costs are agreed for each commission.