This work was originally published in Mark Tillpac’s Subsack.
Do your town or town swim? Many urban areas are located on the coast, lakes and rivers, and swimming in clean, safe open water can be (potentially) a fun and useful public practice. City swimming can provide shelter from the city heat. It can also promote exercise, relaxation and social connection while supporting important life skills. Additionally, urban swimming encourages efforts to maintain and strengthen ecosystems, while also attracting visitors and new residents to a variety of locations.
The city’s open water swimming has deep historical roots. Benjamin Franklin, for example, is an avid swimmer who immerses Boston’s ponds as a child, and later enjoys London’s Thames as a visitor. But is Franklin swimming in Boston and London today? I am excited to learn about the growing movement of individuals, institutions and initiatives that work to advance the ideas of swimmerable cities around the world. I recently had the opportunity to ask questions to organizers of the first Swimable Cities (SC) Summit. It will be held in Rotterdam, North Carolina from June 22-24th and open to the public. Here is their collective answer (edit):
What inspired your first Swimmable Cities Summit in the future? Why was Rotterdam chosen as the location?
The Swimmable Cities (SC) preceded the historic announcement in the spring of 2024 that the rivers would reopen for swimming after a 100-year ban, ahead of the Parisian historical announcement. The SC Steering Group is made up of individuals representing various local and national urban swimming initiatives around the world, coupled with the confidence that networking and structured movements are needed that can share knowledge and strategies to accelerate efforts to enable cities to swim again. The city of Rotterdam provided support for the US by holding its first summit this June. This is a great opportunity and the event will be held near Rotterdam’s new urban swimming area in the port of Lysinhaven.
What do you think defines a “city to swim”? When you think of Swimmable Cities, what examples come to mind?
While most cities around the world are built along rivers, harbors and coasts (with a few exceptions), access to water for swimming is restricted or prohibited in urban areas, especially from urban centers. Additionally, some of the swimming facilities in historic cities, including those from the 19th century, have been closed or demolished in some cities. In Switzerland, cities such as Zurich, Bern and Basel maintain their historic river baths, make use of the city’s heritage of swimming, and even inspire recent projects (such as Flussbad Berlin). City swimability includes water quality and accessibility care with minimal infrastructure, as well as policies that support swimming as a legal activity, as well as other uses such as shipping. Swimmable Cities Charter and Principles explains in more detail some of these and related ideas, encouraging more people and cities to participate in the Swimmable Cities Movement by signing charters via the SC website.
What do you think is the biggest obstacle that cities face in making swimming easier? Are there any differences in the regions you notice?
The main challenges appear to be comparable across regions, but there may be regional, cultural, or regulatory differences between locations. One general issue is political will. It can take time and effort to convince local political leaders to integrate urban swimming into the program. Because swimming projects and infrastructure in major cities often take years to come into play and continuous maintenance is required, there is a risk that certain projects or initiatives will lose political support in different management or majority. There is also political backlash (as we have observed in Berlin and Brussels recently). This is part of why civic associations are essential to swimming urban movements.
User conflicts can also be another obstacle. Municipalities and governments must create swimming locations as equal water activities (major society, health, tourism, and other benefits), along with applications such as shipping and industry. Furthermore, excellent water quality for swimming purposes is the basic condition of our exercise. Making cities and communities more swims can provide attention and attention to water quality, and the project can lead to an incredible range of public improvements.
What do you think will happen in the next 5-10 years, depending on the Swimmable Cities Movement?
We want more urban swimming projects to come to fruition, but this requires a rethinking of rules regarding urban waterway access, better water quality monitoring, and better education on urban water access. An impressive example of the city of Paris, which opens three public swimming spots along the Seine River in July, is a positive start. London is working on improving the city’s rivers, while New York City supports the proposal of an A+ pool (floating pool on the East River).
[Baltimore, Maryland is also working to make its downtown harbor swimmable, and other examples globally abound!]
Could you talk more about swimming cities in relation to climate change concerns and urban efforts?
Making cities swims can be a powerful response to climate change in relation to urban heat threats. Swimming has public health benefits both physically and mentally. It is also important to remember that urban swimming is extremely important for public health and well-being, as most urban residents around the world cannot take summer vacations to escape the heat of the city.
Furthermore, swimable urban movements can lead to a fundamental rethinking of the role and function of urban waterways. This promotes a more human/natural-centered approach, rather than a purely utilitarian concern of transport or wastewater removal, which can usually determine the management of urban waterways. Urban swimming helps raise awareness of various environmental concerns and perspectives.
What shaped your commitment to the city you swim?
[Sibylle van der Walt, on behalf of SC]: During the extremely hot summers of 2017 and 2018, as a newly arrived German citizen at the Mets in France, it was very surprising that there was no official swimming spot on the Mosel River. With some friends, I founded the Metz Ville D’Eu in 2019, making swimming accessible to Metz ponds and rivers. Fortunately, the municipality opened a public beach along Mosel in 2023. It attracts families with children and non-swimmers who match our purpose. However, this section of METZ proposes more architecturally ambitious projects to support athletic outdoor swimming. We envision the creation of natural swimming pools and facilities in the terminal basin of the Canal des Jouis, comparable to the old Metz-Plage, which closed in 1983.What do you think is the key gap in research on swimming cities? Are research questions related to Swimmable Cities most excited, if any?
A big outlook for swimmer cities is the potential for innovative water quality research, supported by new digital tools that allow for more effective regulation and management of different waterways. Chemical contamination is still a major issue that needs to be addressed, and current regulations primarily consider biological contamination. They hope that cities are adopting nature-based solutions to city runoff. This can be time consuming and complicated in a big city. The research will become an important part of the city of swimming after this year’s summit in Rotterdam. We have the world’s best educators and researchers who are contributing to our network.
Are there similar or related efforts that Swimmable Cities Movement can draw inspiration or counter?
The Swimmable Cities Movement has many in common with the urban cycling movement. This strives to make the city centres and roads need to enable shared space and infrastructure between cars, pedestrians and cyclists for the benefit of all city residents. City swims can be seen in the same way, and political will and caution is required to make it easier to swim cities and communities.
What can city planners do to support Swimmable Cities?
They can visit places like Copenhagen [or Washington, DC] Or Zurich [or Rotterdam, etc.] It is inspired by the realities of new urban swimming opportunities and facilities that can be introduced in more locations over the summer. They also were able to attend the Swimmable Cities Summit in Rotterdam or the online events held throughout the year. We encourage them all to get in touch with us and help build this alliance.
What about college students and young adults?
For students and young professionals, urban swimming associations such as Flussbad Berlin and Schwimmverein Donaukanal in Vienna can provide a great way to engage in interdisciplinary projects including architecture, ecology, urban planning, sports, marketing and more. Additionally, young adults often lead the project. He also participated in many universities that worked with students on access to water. We are available worldwide to bring expertise to our students.
What do you want to celebrate in 2040 when it comes to swimming cities?
As long as there is a desire for infrastructure and policies to support urban swimming by 2040, we must do more to tackle climate change. This includes reducing carbon emissions and compensation. Part of this vision is that naturalising waterways and wetlands will help and improve the city’s swimming ease. Our city becomes a hot place and the cost of building and operating a traditional swimming pool will only increase, so we can open up the largest space in the city, the untouched blue space.
If people are asking questions or want to be more involved in the city of swimming, who should I contact?
Please contact SC via the details listed on SwimMableCities.org depending on your local or general enquiries. Also, be involved in Swimmable Cities Movement via social media (Instagram and LinkedIn). And there’s still time to sign up for the first summit in June!
Matt Sykes is a co-founder of Swimmable Cities (SC) and is the founder and chief living officer of Australia’s Regeneration Projects.
Sibylle van der Walt is a member of the steering committee of the Sustainable Cities (SC) and Présidente, Metz Ville D’Eu, France.
Tim Edler is a member of the Sustainable Urban Steering Committee (SC) who is the founder, planner and strategist of the Flussbad Berlin EV in Germany.
Chris Romer-Lee is co-founder of Swimmable Cities (SC) and Future Lidos. He is also the author of the award-winning bestselling Seapool (Batford, 2023), and is co-founder and former director of Studio Octopia.
Mark Tillpack is a member of the Public and International Affairs Assistance/Affiliate Faculty of Virginia Tech and a guest instructor supporting Professor Tom Sanchez of the University of Architecture Texas A&M. Mark also serves as a member of the American Planning Association’s Trend Scout Foresight Community.
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