ROTTERDAM, 9 January 2026 – Rotterdam’s municipal executive (college van B&W) has published the Wijkprofiel 2026, the city’s two-yearly neighbourhood monitor covering safety, social cohesion and the physical environment. The new edition finds a growing group of people experiencing liveability, safety and day-to-day social interactions in their neighbourhood more negatively, even as some objective indicators and participation measures improve.
The city says the overall picture at city level has declined across the three domains Safe, Social and Physical compared with four years ago, largely driven by lower subjective scores, meaning how people judge their own neighbourhood, including feelings of safety, social behaviour and enjoyment of living there.
What does Wijkprofiel measure in neighbourhoods?
The neighbourhood profile (Wijkprofiel) combines factual data with residents’ experiences and is used as a “thermometer” for how Rotterdam, its areas and its neighbourhoods are doing. It tracks developments across three domains: safe, social and physical, with 2014 used as the baseline measurement.
For Wijkprofiel 2026, the municipality surveyed around 30,000 Rotterdammers between March and October 2025, and says the insights will help guide choices and priorities for the city and individual neighbourhoods.
Citywide scores fall
Rotterdam says the decline at city level is mainly explained by subjective scores dropping, rather than a uniform slide in every measurable indicator. The areas that pull the results down include how safe you feel, how you experience social interactions around you, and how much you enjoy living in your neighbourhood.
The municipality adds that this pattern matches similar developments seen in other large cities, where perception and daily experience are increasingly shaping how people rate their area.
Concerns remain on youth and crime
The municipal executive says its goal of maintaining the 2022 level for safety, defined as a safety index (Veiligheidsindex) of 110 or higher, was not met for the city as a whole. It frames that as a reason to keep pushing on issues such as youth, drug-related crime and violent offences.
At the same time, Rotterdam points to a different picture in the five focus neighbourhoods (focuswijken), where safety improved against the wider city trend.
Carnisse and Tarwewijk record safety index rises
In the focus neighbourhoods Carnisse and Tarwewijk, Rotterdam says the safety index rose compared with 2022, moving in the opposite direction to the overall city trend. The municipality presents this as evidence that long-term, targeted work in these areas is having an effect.
The city groups these improvements with the results in the other three focus neighbourhoods, highlighting the five as a set where the safety index increased.
Hillesluis, Tussendijken and Lombardijen
Rotterdam says the safety index also rose in Hillesluis, Tussendijken and Lombardijen compared with 2022, again against the broader city pattern described in the Wijkprofiel.
The municipality still stresses that more people are reporting negative experiences around liveability, safety and social behaviour in their neighbourhood, which is why it keeps the focus on a wide, neighbourhood-based approach rather than a single-theme response.
Rotterdam sees higher self-reliance and participation
Alongside the more negative perceptions, Rotterdam reports positive movement in other parts of the profile. It says the objective score for the physical domain has increased, while self-reliance and participation among residents have also gone up.
The municipality links these social improvements to fewer low-income households, a stronger labour market position, and higher participation in cultural, social and sports activities.
New neighbourhood accords and local action
The municipal executive says the signals and insights from Wijkprofiel 2026 fit closely with the work Rotterdam has been doing in recent years, including investments in clean and well-maintained public space, enforcement, and the neighbourhood programme Neighbourhood takes the lead (Wijk aan Zet). It also points to work on homelessness, poverty and financial security, support for city-makers (Stadsmakers) and resident initiatives, plus targeted action against weapon violence, street nuisance and organised crime.
Rotterdam says the Wijkprofiel will act as a guide for new neighbourhood accords (wijkakkoorden) and for concrete actions to tackle the biggest challenges in each area. You can explore the city-level results here. The accompanying document published for the council is here.
