Making the Seine Swimmable: From Regulatory Challenges to a Metropolitan Vision

Abstract

This article examines the reintroduction of swimming in the Seine from a dual perspective: first, the technical and regulatory constraints specific to Paris; second, the need to broaden the scope toward long-term territorial planning. In the first part, the authors show how floating bathing facilities must contend with regulations designed for river navigation rather than swimming. This framework imposes sometimes unsuitable standards (freeboard, ERP classification, navigation police regulations) leading to a highly controlled and formalized design of sites, though one deemed necessary to ensure the coexistence of multiple uses of the river. In its second part, the authors warn against the limitations of a single model – the enclosed pool – which fails to reflect the diversity of urban swimming practices and may in fact encourage informal, unsupervised swimming. Drawing on the example of Copenhagen, the authors argue for an integrated metropolitan strategy that embraces diverse forms of access to the water, making swimming a durable component of Paris’s territorial development.