Drinkable cities: A regenerative approach for cities and their rivers

Abstract

The regenerative approach encourages human communities to re-connect with the essence of place and advocates becoming indigenous to place, again. Nothing new, but values forgotten in contemporary life. This paper explores how to implement the regenerative development goal of drinkable cities. Recent legal breakthroughs by Indigenous communities are advancing “Rights of Nature”. What if their river basin guardianship model expanded globally to maintain the “health and well-being” of all rivers? To understand how sacred connections were lost in Europe, a post-colonial lens explores Ireland’s connections with place, people and language. Adventures to keep “old ways” alive, involving Dublin’s River Dodder kingfisher, are remembered through autoethnography. Bioregionalism requires cities work with all communities of their river basin, through a nested approach. Following natures patterns, work from Curitiba, Brazil, demonstrates how cities can organize fractally; communities within communities. Municipalism envisages a citizen-led fractal network of ecological neighbourhoods communicating through local assemblies. Inspiring multilevel governance examples exist in Rojava and Spain. Swiss, Danish and Dutch water regeneration projects show clean, safe, loved nature spaces are possible within cities. A Dutch woman’s impactful work helps urban citizens imagine drinking the river water that their cities located themselves on and around, again. Let life flow.