Adam Rybka, Karolina Kozłowska
Politechnika Rzeszowska
Abstract
The article examines the presence of water in the city. It confronts its existence with the notion of threat, but also natural capital. It also outlines the relationship of cities with water from the antiquity until present. The issue of the reintegration of degraded water channels in urban areas is dealt with as well. Rapidly progressive anthropogenic processes, mainly occurring at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, associated with industrialisation and rapid urbanisation have led to the deep degradation of the existing, largely natural watercourses. They were transformed into sewage channels, often used under the developing needs of the urban centres, included in underground structures, and lost their aesthetic values. Large rivers of the „founder” cities, i.e. Thames, Seine or Rhenium, became equally large sewers. The article highlights the history of the disappearance of networks of smaller streams that do not withstand competition with technocratic approach, particularly in large cities. Cities, where industry greatly reduced the aquatic resources of cities, polluted waters and completely rejected the landscape-recreational, as well as compositional function of watercourses in the forming of the urban structure, which develops very dynamically. Fully regulated streams have been channelled not to harass residents with unpleasant odor. Spaces associated with the water began to be seen as peripheral areas of cities. Moreover, the article examines the arguments for stopping sealing of the city which halts the flow of water in the city Although water is a renewable resource, overexploitation and the ignorant management within the basin causes its dramatic shortage, especially in the cities. The lack of integrated thinking about the problem of water makes cities turn their back on the issue. The authors focus their attention on the multi-functionality of the water infrastructure and recovery of the "space for the river", as well as on the projects in line with the principle of decoupling. The article describes successful projects, in which water is not treated as a raw material, but rather as a natural, factor necessary for life, boasting limitless possibilities that must be protected. The examples of reintegration removed from urban watercourses, which again become the basis for the composition of the city and part of restoring sustainable water management for urban areas are also presented and analyzed. Thinking about the problem of lack of the integration of water, shortage of water as a resource should be dealt with in a comprehensive way, rather than selectively. The article presents the historical and contemporary examples of integrating urban design with water engineering.
Słowa kluczowe
reintegracja, woda w mieście, uszczelnianie miasta
The Reintegration of Degraded Aquatic Network in the City
Key words
reintegration, water in the city, sealing the city
Pełny tekst / Full text
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