The Second and Third Generation in Rotterdam: Increasing Diversity Within Diversity

Abstract

The children of immigrants, the second and the third generations, are inheriting the city of Rotterdam. They make up about two thirds of the Rotterdam population of the future. As a result, what is the future of Rotterdam? We will show that the most prominent trend within the second generation is polarization. The group that was able to move up into the lower and upper middle-class is equally large – or for some ethnic groups even larger – as the group in the working class. An intersectional approach in which generation, socio-economic position and ethnicity all play a role seems to be much more appropriate than an approach looking at ethnic groups alone. It is exactly the increased diversity within ethnic groups that underscores the concept of superdiversity for cities like Rotterdam.