City Beaches: Enlivening Marginal Spaces in Germany

The success of Paris Plages, which first occupied a closed motorway along the Seine in 2002, popularized the idea of creating a temporary artificial beach to enliven an underused urban space. The concept quickly spread to hundreds of cities throughout Europe and to North America, and many temporary beaches have re-appeared every summer since. This type of open space is easily recognizable through its defining elements of sand, deck chairs, umbrellas, potted palms, thatched huts, swimming pools and decorated shipping containers. Marginal spaces that have been activated include privately- and publicly owned riverfront land but also sites without any water frontage, including underused public plazas, former industrial sites, railway easements, shopping centers, university campuses and carparks. Many beaches occupy the top deck of parking garages, which have excellent views and solar exposure. While local governments initiated most city beaches in France, Germany’s more numerous beaches are financed and developed by a mixture of hospitality vendors, entrepreneurs from the creative industries and non-profit organizations. All city beaches are free to use but different urban contexts and operators lead to diverse management approaches, programming, user groups and uses. This chapter explores these variations, drawing on site analysis of city beaches from both large cities and small towns across Germany and surveys and interviews with their operators.<p></p>