Why does urban swimming still come with a health warning? As cities reclaim waterways for bathing, they face a host of challenges like post-industrial pollution, sewage-tainted water and good ol’ fashioned bureaucracy. But the struggle (and billion Euro investment) to get the River Seine clean enough to host the Olympic Triathlon put city bathing on the global agenda.
As Paris opens permanent Seine bathing sites this summer, grassroots groups from Berlin to Melbourne are renewing their mission to realize plans for swimming in local waters, and the Swimmable Cities Summit (Rotterdam, 22-24 June) hopes to swell the tide. Besides the thrill of swimming through the skyline, can these projects help reconnect us to waterways, the lifeblood of our cities?
Here are some of our favorites leading the urban bathing revival.
The first sauna opened illegally in Oslo Harbor in 2011 when it wasn’t exactly welcomed by the authorities. But things have changed. With the arrival of SALT, a cultural arena with 12 saunas (including a 100-seater) and six stages, alongside a host of floating saunas run by Oslo Badstuforening and KOK, a steam followed by a dip in the fjord is a permanent fixture in the heart of the city.
Ever dreamt of swimming through the historic centre of a city? This stretch of canal overshadowed by the stern façades of Museum Island, Berlin, was once a shipping channel but has been out of use for over a century. Flussbad has been campaigning for two decades to create a kilometer-long swimming section fed with water cleaned by a reedbed filtering system. Wide stone stairs promise a great stage for the city’s flaneurs.
Sited among the cranes of post-industrial Frihamnen, Almänna Badet, designed by raumlabor, is a free public sauna built with reclaimed materials and the local community. It was intended as a catalyst for the area’s regeneration and for the city’s 400th anniversary in 2023, the water was cleaned up, swimming platforms and pools were installed in the basin, and the sauna was renovated as a permanent structure.
+ POOL proves the pulling power of a seductive CGI. When fledgling designers Family and Playlab proposed a floating pool in the shadow of downtown Manhattan in 2011, the dreamy visual grabbed enough attention to get it listed as one of Time Magazine’s top 25 innovations. In fact, it’s a throwback to 19th century floating pools and bathhouses before mass pollution poisoned the East River. But + POOL’s innovation is a filtration system that cleans river water to fill the pool. Finally +POOL secured a permanent site at Pier 35, testing began last summer and, river gods willing, opens in 2026.
After decades of declining public saunas in Helsinki, the opening of Löyly in 2016 was a game-changer. With its sculptural, timber-slatted exterior and terraced decking cloaking the wood-fired saunas – with direct access to the Baltic for cold plunge – you could argue that Löyly kick-started today’s design-led urban sauna culture.
The transformation of Copenhagen’s harbor from a grim industrial oil slick to watery recreation zone is a model for how inspired urban planning can reshape a city. Copenhagen’s Blue Plan focused attention on water as public space, sparking a massive clean-up and modernization of the city’s sewer system making Copenhagen one of few European capitals where you can swim most days. There are now five harbor baths in the city center.
Get early bird tickets for the Swimmable Cities Summit, June 22-24 in Rotterdam, Netherlands.
Bathing in the news
“Once back in town, do the traditional après-ski hot tub one better at Banff Upper Hot Springs on the side of Sulphur Mountain” 36 Hours in Banff, Alberta
New York Times, February 20, 2025
Guide to achieving celebrity-style luxury with a built-in sauna
Rain Magazine, February 25, 2025
Mosul's Ubayd Agha Al-Jalili Bathhouse: A heritage gem left to decay
Shafaq, February 23, 2025
One last thing
Bring back the mobile pools!
Whether Swimmobiles that toured NYC to bring swimming to communities without access to pools during hot summers in the 60s and 70s, or the dumpster pools by Macro-Sea in 2010, we are all about bringing mobile swimming back to the city.
We’d love to hear from you - please send a DM, or email hello@cultureofbathing.com
Oh, I am missing Zurich on this list. Summers here are all about swimming in the lake or the river 💙
I swam in the Copenhagen harbour and it was so lush. Perfect after a hot day cycling the city 🥰