{"id":9197,"date":"2025-09-15T14:11:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-15T12:11:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ingenius.ecoledesponts.fr\/?p=9197"},"modified":"2025-09-16T09:38:11","modified_gmt":"2025-09-16T07:38:11","slug":"infrastructure-that-places-the-natural-water-cycle-back-at-the-center-of-urban-planning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ingenius.ecoledesponts.fr\/en\/articles\/infrastructure-that-places-the-natural-water-cycle-back-at-the-center-of-urban-planning\/","title":{"rendered":"Infrastructure that places the natural water cycle back at the center of urban planning"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
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The plant filter in operation (Gobert, 2023)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A little history<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

To promote urban development and limit the spread of epidemics, societies<\/a> have sought to control water. To ensure a safe water supply, but also to dispose of this water once containing the waste and by-products of human activity, they have developed specific technical systems, reflecting unique societal relationships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the late 19th<\/sup> and early 20th<\/sup> centuries, the central sewage system gradually became the norm in the Western world for wastewater disposal. This system, which is mainly underground, has continued to evolve in accordance with regulations and demographic pressure. One of the most significant developments was the specific management of stormwater and the development of dedicated stormwater networks in the 1970s wherever possible (new cities, new districts, etc.). There were multiple objectives with regard to separating stormwater and wastewater, such as not overloading existing networks during intense rainfall events and thus avoiding flooding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, urban development must adapt to global changes (climate change, biodiversity loss, etc.), and so must the sociotechnical systems that bind cities together and enable them to function. In this respect, the way in which we think about water in development and manage it is evolving. The desire to make the water cycle more natural in urban areas has become increasingly formalized over the last 20 years, particularly through alternative or decentralized stormwater management solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the goal of these alternative techniques?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Swales, rain gardens, percolation trenches and permeable ground surfaces (increasingly found in parking lots) (see photo) seek to remedy certain urban issues, including soil sealing. They are designed to absorb a certain volume of rainwater, to retain (i.e. regulate) flows during heavy rainfall events – and\/or to purify water, as water runoff carries a number of pollutants that must be treated. First and foremost, these solutions help relieve networks that may be saturated by heavy rainfall events, which, according to forecasts, are set to intensify and multiply due to climate change<\/a>. They can also fulfill other functions: environmental, social or urban. These alternative techniques encourage the development of nature in the city, since they often use plant species. They are commonly referred to as “nature-based solutions\u201d (using nature to solve certain issues caused by the Anthropocene). They contribute to urban cooling and well-being by offering more immediate access to natural elements and creating urban landscapes with less concrete.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Rain garden in New York (Gobert, 2023). Rain gardens prevent stormwater from flowing into the City’s sewer system, helping to improve the health of local waterways<\/em>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

How can we manage these \u201cnew\u201d objects?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

These alternative solutions are sociotechnical objects, embedded in social relationships and creating new links<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n