Mayor of Rotterdam Discusses Racism and Sustainable Urbanism

By Julian Hayda, Steve Bynum
FRANCE CLIMATE COUNTDOWN
Rotterdam Mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb poses during a meeting with Mayors to push for local actions to fight climate change at Paris city Hall on the margins of the COP21, United Nations Climate Change Conference, in Paris, Friday, Dec. 3, 2015. The French president Francois Hollande said that "no region in the world could feel protected of climate disorders" and encouraged city mayors to get involved in fighting climate change. Francois Mori / AP Photo
FRANCE CLIMATE COUNTDOWN
Rotterdam Mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb poses during a meeting with Mayors to push for local actions to fight climate change at Paris city Hall on the margins of the COP21, United Nations Climate Change Conference, in Paris, Friday, Dec. 3, 2015. The French president Francois Hollande said that "no region in the world could feel protected of climate disorders" and encouraged city mayors to get involved in fighting climate change. Francois Mori / AP Photo

Mayor of Rotterdam Discusses Racism and Sustainable Urbanism

By Julian Hayda, Steve Bynum
WBEZ brings you fact-based news and information. Sign up for our newsletters to stay up to date on the stories that matter.

Ahmed Aboutaleb has served as Rotterdam’s Mayor for over nine years. He has worked on issues related to immigration and economic reform in the Netherlands. Recently, Mayor  Aboutaleb faced backlash after a statement on NPO Radio 1 in which he started, “every Muslim is a bit of a salafist.” He is currently in town to discuss urban planning and environmental sustainability at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. We talk with Ahmed Aboutaleb about domestic politics and some of the challenges he faces as Mayor.