An urban beach (also city beach and sometimes beach club) is an artificially-created environment in an urban setting which simulates a public beachfront, 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 a 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 fountains, wading pools 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.
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 centers.
The popularity of urban beaches increased in the early 21st century as the concept was championed by urban planners, landscape architects and local politicians. [1]
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 or the City Beach in Stralsund. However, many of the urban beaches are used especially by the locals for relaxation. A good example of this is the beach of Barcola, which used to be connected to the center of Trieste 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. [2] There are even considerations to rebuild the sandy beach in Barcola, which was largely overbuilt by road construction in the 19th century. [3] [4]
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, a program of seasonal urban beach installations along the Seine that started in 2002 and has been enormously successful. [5] The Paris Plages is the world's largest urban beach, and it transforms a stretch of the riverbanks into a beach experience complete with sand, deck chairs, and water activities. [6] While some European urban beaches claim to predate Paris, all built since have been strongly influenced by its design elements and programming. [7]
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 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.
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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. [8]
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A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shells or coralline algae. Sediments settle in different densities and structures, depending on the local wave action and weather, creating different textures, colors and gradients or layers of material.
Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the regional decentralization entity of Trieste.
Cap d'Agde is a seaside resort on France's Mediterranean coast. It is located in the commune of Agde, in the Hérault department within the region of Occitanie. Cap d'Agde was planned by architect Jean Le Couteur as part of one of the largest state-run development schemes for holidays in French history. It is also one of the cities in France where an increasing number of retirees reside since 1980.
A public space is a place that is open and accessible to the general public. Roads, pavements, public squares, parks, and beaches are typically considered public space. To a limited extent, government buildings which are open to the public, such as public libraries, are public spaces, although they tend to have restricted areas and greater limits upon use. Although not considered public space, privately owned buildings or property visible from sidewalks and public thoroughfares may affect the public visual landscape, for example, by outdoor advertising. Recently, the concept of shared space has been advanced to enhance the experience of pedestrians in public space jointly used by automobiles and other vehicles.
Yonge–Dundas Square, or Dundas Square is a public square at the southeast corner of the intersection of Yonge Street and Dundas Street East in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Designed by Brown and Storey Architects, the square was conceived in 1997 as part of revitalizing the intersection. Since its completion in 2002, the square has hosted many public events, performances and art displays, establishing itself as a prominent landmark in Toronto and one of the city's prime tourist attractions. Central to the Downtown Yonge entertainment and shopping district, the square is owned by the city and is the first public square in Canada to be maintained through a public–private partnership. The intersection is one of the busiest in Canada, with over 100,000 people crossing the city's first pedestrian scramble daily.
Miramare Castle is a 19th-century castle direct on the Gulf of Trieste between Barcola and Grignano in Trieste, northeastern Italy. It was built from 1856 to 1860 for Austrian Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian and his wife, Charlotte of Belgium, later Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico and Empress Carlota of Mexico, based on a design by Carl Junker.
An esplanade or promenade is a long, open, level area, usually next to a river or large body of water, where people may walk. The historical definition of esplanade was a large, open, level area outside fortress or city walls to provide clear fields of fire for the fortress's guns. In modern usage, the space allows the area to be paved as a pedestrian walk; esplanades are often on sea fronts and allow walking whatever the state of the tide, without having to walk on the beach.
Mimizan is a commune in the Landes department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in south-western France. There are two separate districts of the town: Mimizan-Bourg and Mimizan-Plage (resort).
The commons is the cultural and natural resources accessible to all members of a society, including natural materials such as air, water, and a habitable Earth. These resources are held in common even when owned privately or publicly. Commons can also be understood as natural resources that groups of people manage for individual and collective benefit. Characteristically, this involves a variety of informal norms and values employed for a governance mechanism. Commons can also be defined as a social practice of governing a resource not by state or market but by a community of users that self-governs the resource through institutions that it creates.
Le Touquet-Paris-Plage, commonly referred to as Le Touquet, is a commune near Étaples, in the Pas-de-Calais department, northern France. It has a permanent population of 4,213 (2021), but it welcomes up to 250,000 people during the summer, so the population at any given time during high season in summer swells to about 30,000. Located on the Opal Coast of the English Channel at the estuary of the river Canche, the commune is one of the most renowned seaside resorts in France, with a wide range of sports and leisure activities.
Barcola is a maritime neighbourhood of Trieste, Italy. It is a popular tourist destination with beaches and long promenades, near the Habsburg-established Miramare Castle.
The Old Port of Montreal is the historic port of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Located adjacent to Old Montreal, it stretches for over 2 km (1.2 mi) along the Saint Lawrence River. It was used as early as 1611, when French fur traders used it as a trading post.
The Free Port of Trieste is a port in the Adriatic Sea in Trieste, Italy. It is the most important commercial port of Italy, with a trade volume of 62 million tonnes.
Malecón 2000 is the name given to the boardwalk overlooking the Guayas River in the Ecuadorian port city of Guayaquil. An urban renewal project focusing on the old Simón Bolívar boardwalk, it stands along the west shore of the river for an approximate length of 2.5 km. (1.5 mi.) Several of the greatest historical monuments in the history of Guayaquil can be seen along its length, as well as museums, gardens, fountains, shopping malls, restaurants, bars, food courts, the first IMAX theater in South America, as well as boarding docks where several embarkations offer both daytime and nighttime tours up and down the Guayas River. It is one of the largest works realized in Guayaquil and it is considered a model of urban regeneration by global standards, having been declared a healthy public space by the Pan-American Organization of Health (POH) and the World Health Organization (WHO).
La Barceloneta is a neighborhood in the Ciutat Vella district of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The neighborhood was built in the 18th century for the residents of the Ribera neighborhood who had been displaced by the construction of the Ciutadella of Barcelona. The neighborhood has a triangular shape, bordered by the Mediterranean Sea, the Moll d’Espanya of Port Vell, and the El Born neighborhood. This neighborhood has its own flag and metro stop on the Barcelona Metro line 4. The neighborhood can also be explored by taking Las Gorondrinas, which depart from the front port of the Columbus monument. This way, one can see the coastal strip, but the real charm of this neighborhood lies in wandering through its narrow streets and alleys. Torre Sant Sebastià is the terminus of the Port Vell Aerial Tramway; opened in 1931, it connects La Barceloneta with Montjuïc across Port Vell.
La Flotte, is a commune on the isle of Ré off the western coast of France, administratively part of the department of Charente-Maritime within the larger Nouvelle-Aquitaine region.
Saint-Michel-Chef-Chef is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France. Its inhabitants, known as Michelois, numbered 5,173 at the 2018 census.
Paris-Plages 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 the Bassin de la Villette in the northeast of Paris. Every July and August, roadways on the banks of the Seine are closed off and host various activities, including sandy beaches and palm trees.
Trieste's urban tramway system was operational from 1876 until 1970.
Clock Tower Beach is an urban beach on the Saint Lawrence River in Montreal, adjacent to the Montreal Clock Tower in the Old Port of Montreal.