Swimmable Cities

Urban waterways have often borne the brunt of pollution and poor planning decisions. However, people have been using these waterways for swimming and bathing since these cities came to be. Now, city officials and nonprofits are working to clean up urban waterways, giving rise to the “swimmable cities” movement.  

The Swimmable Cities Alliance and its “right to swim” campaign aims to help 300 cities return their waterways to safe, swimmable conditions by 2030. The movement began in the buildup to the Paris Olympics in 2024, and the first Swimmable Cities Summit was in 2025. Swimmers have returned to the Chicago River for the first time in more than a century following decades of policies and regulations that have drastically reduced water pollution. Paris opened three swimmable sites along the Seine in summer 2025, but is still working to make the entire river safe. 

Planners may need to leverage local buy-in for swimmable waterways to counter deregulation and defunding of environmental initiatives at the federal and state levels.