Urban Beaches
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An urban beach (also city beach and sometimes beach club) is an artificially-created environment in an urban setting which simulates a public
beachfront A shore or a shoreline is the fringe of land at the edge of a large body of water, such as an ocean, sea, or lake. In physical oceanography, a shore is the wider fringe that is geologically modified by the action of the body of water past ...
, through the use of sand, beach umbrellas, and seating elements. Urban beaches are designed to surprise and delight city residents, workers, and visitors by inserting a beach atmosphere into an urban area that would otherwise be typical cityscape. There are many variations of urban beaches. Urban beaches are often found along waterways, though some are inserted into town squares or other spaces far from water. The beach may be a seasonal installation over a roadway or parking lot, or it may be permanent. It is not necessarily public land though it is always open to the general public (sometimes with a small admission fee). As river or ocean swimming is not possible, many urban beaches include water features -- for example
fountain A fountain, from the Latin "fons" (genitive "fontis"), meaning source or Spring (hydrology), spring, is a decorative reservoir used for discharging water. It is also a structure that jets water into the air for a decorative or dramatic effect. ...
s,
wading pool A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable swimming or other leisure activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built above ground (as ...
s or misting towers -- for cooling off. Some urban beaches feature entertainment, or food and beverage areas. A few include sports facilities such as
beach volleyball Beach volleyball is a team sport played by two teams of two or more players on a sand court divided by a net. Similar to indoor volleyball, the objective of the game is to send the ball over the net and to ground it on the opponent's side of the ...
. Most urban beaches are designed to appeal to a general population, from families to young singles to older citizens. Although an urban beach may not have facilities for swimming, swimwear is commonly seen alongside the more usual attire seen in major urban centres. The popularity of urban beaches increased in the early 21st century as the concept was championed by urban planners, landscape architects and local politicians.


History

Natural urban beaches located at the sea have attracted tourists for a long time, such as the Copacabana of Rio, the central beach of
San Sebastián San Sebastian, officially known as Donostia–San Sebastián (names in both local languages: ''Donostia'' () and ''San Sebastián'' ()) is a city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality located in the Basque Country (autonomous community), B ...
or the ''City Beach'' in
Stralsund Stralsund (; Swedish: ''Strålsund''), officially the Hanseatic City of Stralsund (German: ''Hansestadt Stralsund''), is the fifth-largest city in the northeastern German federal state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania after Rostock, Schwerin, Neub ...
. However, many of the urban beaches are used especially by the locals for relaxation. A good example of this is the beach of
Barcola Barcola is a maritime neighbourhood of Trieste, Italy. It is a popular tourist place with beaches and long promenades, near the Habsburg-established Miramare Castle. Barcola is highly valued for the high quality of life and the free access to the ...
, which used to be connected to the center of
Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into provi ...
by tram and now by bus. People of all ages take the opportunity to spend their free time or lunch breaks away from the heat of the city on the cool sea breeze. There are even considerations to rebuild the sandy beach in Barcola, which was largely overbuilt by road construction in the 19th century. Although many cities had experimented with temporary sand installations for various festivals and artistic projects, the modern urban beach concept as a summertime public amenity in the middle of the city was popularized by the
Paris-Plages Paris-Plages ("Paris Beaches"; until 2006 Paris-Plage in the singular) is a plan run by the office of the mayor of Paris that creates temporary artificial beaches each summer along the river Seine in the centre of Paris, and, since 2007, along th ...
, a program of seasonal urban beach installations along the
Seine ) , mouth_location = Le Havre/Honfleur , mouth_coordinates = , mouth_elevation = , progression = , river_system = Seine basin , basin_size = , tributaries_left = Yonne, Loing, Eure, Risle , tributarie ...
that started in 2002 and has been enormously successful. While some European urban beaches claim to predate
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
, all built since have been strongly influenced by its design elements and programming.


Beach bars

Many waterfront restaurants and bars around the globe have beach-themed sections, and as these have grown larger and added size and features there has been some crossover with urban beaches. For example, the two artificial beaches in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
and many of the manmade beaches in German cities feature enclosed beach areas open to visitors, but the spaces are managed by private entities as food and drinks venues and close frequently for concerts and events. Strictly speaking, such locations are private enterprises and not true urban beaches, which can include commercial ventures but should maintain an atmosphere of public space.


List of beaches

This list is only of urban beaches as defined above, open to the public on a free or admission basis. It does not include fully private artificial beaches, natural beaches that exist in urban areas, playgrounds, dedicated waterparks or hardscape fountain plazas. * Sand in the City in Vienna, Austria *
Paris-Plages Paris-Plages ("Paris Beaches"; until 2006 Paris-Plage in the singular) is a plan run by the office of the mayor of Paris that creates temporary artificial beaches each summer along the river Seine in the centre of Paris, and, since 2007, along th ...
in Paris, France (multiple locations) * Marina beach in Chennai, India * Strand Zuid in Amsterdam, The Netherlands * Boomjeskade in Rotterdam, The Netherlands * Docken in Copenhagen, Denmark * Bruxelles Les Bains in Brussels, Belgium * Madrid Rio in Madrid, Spain * Beach on the Cobblestones in Cologne, Germany * Strandbar Mitte in Berlin, Germany (multiple locations) * Strandpauli in Hamburg, Germany (multiple locations) * Docklands in Dublin, Ireland *
Spruce Street Harbor Park The Spruce Street Harbor Park is an urban park located in Penn's Landing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Open during the summer, the place features a boardwalk along the Delaware River with a beachfront atmosphere. Fireworks were planned around ...
in Philadelphia, USA * Manila Bay Dolomite Beach in Manila, Philippines * Birmingham-on-Sea and Northfield Beach in Birmingham, UK * Sunny Beach in Shanghai, China * Poniatówka in Warsaw, Poland * Nottingham Riviera in Nottingham, UK * Barking Urban Beach in Barking Town, UK * Cardiff Bay Beach in Cardiff, UK * Play Beach, Camden Beach and Greenwich Beach in London, UK * Playa Villa in Mexico City, Mexico (ten locations) *
Sugar Beach Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double s ...
,
HTO Park HTO Park (stylized as HTO) is an urban beach in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, that opened in 2007. It is located west of Harbourfront Centre, on Lake Ontario. History The park is built on quays once used by ships berthing in Toronto's Inner Harbour ...
and Whiskey Beach in Toronto, Canada *
Plage de l'Horloge Clock Tower Beach (French: ''Plage de l'Horloge'') is an urban beach on the Saint Lawrence River in Montreal, adjacent to the Montreal Clock Tower in the Old Port of Montreal. Description and history The beach opened in 2012. It consists of sand ...
in Montreal, Canada * Newport Green in Jersey City, USA *
Campus Martius The Campus Martius (Latin for the "Field of Mars", Italian ''Campo Marzio'') was a publicly owned area of ancient Rome about in extent. In the Middle Ages, it was the most populous area of Rome. The IV rione of Rome, Campo Marzio, which covers ...
in Detroit, USA * Rotary Park in Lansing, Michigan, USA * Barcola in Trieste, Italy


References


External links

*{{Commonscat-inline, Artificial beaches Outdoor recreation Beaches Parks