ROTTERDAM, 29 June 2026 – Trompenburg Tuinen & Arboretum has brought a temporary mobile forest to Noordereiland, together with the municipality of Rotterdam. Since 26 June, visitors have been able to experience how trees can change the feel of a city space by adding shade, greenery and a place to pause.
The project arrives during a period of hot weather, which makes its point rather clearly. Trees are not just decorative; they help cool streets and squares, support biodiversity, absorb water and make public space more pleasant to use.
Trees change the city
The mobile forest consists of larger and smaller trees placed temporarily in the public space on Noordereiland. Together, they create a green meeting place where residents, visitors and passers-by can experience what trees do to their immediate surroundings.
The project is part of Bos op Poten, an initiative by TU Delft, and connects to a wider ambition to make cities such as Rotterdam greener, more liveable and better prepared for climate change.
“Rotterdam is working on a greener and climate-resilient city. With this project, we make visible how greening can directly contribute to a pleasant living environment for residents and visitors. At the same time, we invite Rotterdammers to look differently at their own street, square or neighbourhood,” says Ted de Rover, Sustainable Development project manager at the municipality of Rotterdam.
For Rotterdam, the setting is smart. Noordereiland sits between river, bridges, homes and traffic, which makes it a very real urban location rather than a controlled park experiment. If a group of trees can change the atmosphere there, you immediately understand the value of greenery in the rest of the city too.
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Cooling during hot days
During warm weather, trees can make public space feel more comfortable by creating shade and reducing heat. They also contribute to water collection, biodiversity and social contact, because greener places often become easier places to stay in.
The mobile forest is not presented as a full solution to heat stress across Rotterdam. It is more of a physical demonstration: stand under the trees, feel the difference, and imagine what more greenery could mean for your own street or square.
“Especially during a warm week like this, it becomes visible how important trees are for our living environment,” says Jaap Smit, green curator at Trompenburg Tuinen & Arboretum. “This mobile forest is not a solution for heat stress across the whole city, but it does make tangible what greenery does to a place. We want to start that conversation and invite people to experience the power of trees at Trompenburg itself as well.”
That invitation matters. Rotterdam often talks about climate adaptation in plans, maps and targets, but this project makes the subject easier to feel. A little less policy PDF, a little more standing in the shade and thinking: yes, this is better.
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From botanical garden to street
With the mobile forest, Trompenburg brings part of its botanical world into the city’s public space. The project shows that nature does not only belong in parks and gardens, but can also play a practical role in the middle of Rotterdam’s streets, quays and neighbourhoods.
The Noordereiland installation marks the start of a broader greening approach that will become visible in other parts of Rotterdam later this summer. The press release does not specify the next locations or the exact period that the mobile forest will remain on Noordereiland.
Trompenburg Tuinen & Arboretum is an eight-hectare botanical garden in Kralingen, with a large collection of trees, perennials and other plants. The garden has roots going back around 200 years and is now also a registered museum and Rotterdam Monument.
