German bombing on 14 May 1940 destroyed the historic core of Rotterdam, levelling some 24,000 dwellings and the medieval centre. Rather than rebuild the old street pattern, planners pursued a modern reconstruction with separated functions, wide traffic arteries and open blocks. The Lijnbaan pedestrian shopping precinct of 1953 became an internationally imitated model. Reconstruction continued for decades and gave Rotterdam its distinctive modern skyline.
The flattening of Rotterdam made it a laboratory for postwar modernist city-building and pedestrian retail planning.
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