Reviving Urban River Swimming/Bathing As a Pathway for Socio-Ecological Change? Design and Management Experiences in European Cities

Historically, many ancient civilizations developed along waterways; people naturally learned to swim in rivers, lakes, and seas. However, with the advent of industrialization (i.e., navigation), the resulting water pollution, and the rise of public swimming pools, river swimming/bathing was officially prohibited in major European cities in the early 20th century. Recently, a movement to revive urban river bathing/swimming has emerged across Europe, North America, and Australia. The EU's Bathing Water Directive (2006/7/EC) established a legal framework to enhance bathing water quality across Europe; the idea of "making rivers swimmable again" gained momentum with the swimming competitions held in the Seine River during the Paris 2024 Olympics. After the COVID-19 pandemic, societal demand for natural interactions in urban environments spurred grassroots initiatives like the Swimmable Cities alliance, established in 2024, advocating for the right to swim in urban waters worldwide. Today, the development of river swimming zones/pools is increasingly incorporated into climate change mitigation strategies, particularly to combat the urban heat island effect by using rivers' cooling effects.

Through transdisciplinary collaborations, the author conducted intensive fieldwork in 2024 across selected European cities known for their experimental river swimming and bathing initiatives—Geneva, Bern, Basel, Zurich (Switzerland), Amsterdam (Netherlands), Copenhagen (Denmark), Berlin (Germany), and Vienna (Austria)—engaging with diverse stakeholders, i.e., environmental agencies, tourism officers, river managers, lifeguards, researchers, and NGOs. With first-hand insights, this presentation will showcase: 1) the individual and collective practices of urban river bathing/swimming; 2) a typology of urban river bathing/swimming designs; and 3) current management challenges, e.g., monitoring the microbiological water quality, mitigating health risks like swimmer's itch, implementing drowning prevention, and balancing recreation with the conservation of river ecosystems. Ultimately, this study examines the interwoven social-ecological changes in modern societies, promoting a transition towards a harmonious coexistence between humans and biota within urban river corridors.