De Dépendance is Rotterdam’s platform for city culture and public debate.
We work from the premise that the city of Rotterdam is intrinsically connected to international trends – from growing flows of capital, labour, goods and information to geopolitical shifts of power and the global climate emergency. In order to explain, interpret and critically reflect on these transformations De Dépendance researches how these trends manifest themselves in our cities and urban regions.
We do this by initiating public programs with international speakers who engage with today’s major urban issues. We invite well-known and up-and-coming thinkers for lectures, discussions and interviews to debate the political, economic, social, cultural, and environmental challenges of our time. Founded in 2009 by design agency ZUS with the Schieblock as its permanent base, De Dépendance has been travelling through Rotterdam since 2015. With the city as our stage, we aim to bring new perspectives, divergent opinions, alternative solutions and (radical) imaginaries.