The success of the Seine events at the 2024 Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games, have enabled the water quality to be improved, opening up the way to permanent swimming in the rivers Seine and Marne. In order to help local authorities achieve their projects, this practical guide aims to bring together in a single document all the stages of the process. It was produced, following several meetings organised in 2024 under the joint-presidency of the Ile-de-France Regional Prefect, the Prefect of Paris, the Mayor of Paris and the President of the Greater Paris - Grand Paris Metropolis -.
Drawn up by the Paris Urbanism Agency in collaboration with State Departments, Grand Paris Metropolis, the City of Paris and the Regional Health Agency, this guide completes the study of 32 sites being considered by local authorities interested in opening bathing facilities as a legacy of the 2024 Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games. It reviews the legal context applicable to swimming facilities and gives details of studies and the administrative procedures to be undergone according to the various issues involved: environmental, heritage, water quality, navigation, safety, development of the site and river embankments.
Feedback on experiences already carried out in France and abroad, such as the Bassin de la Villette in Paris, swimming sites on the Rhine at Basel and Copenhagen, illustrates the diversity of situations and bathing facilities. Other types of facilities, such as swimming events and water sports are also presented, thus broadening the possibilities available to local authorities, depending on the context and time required to carry out the bathing project. They also encourage a gradual approach to development, enabling the river to be reclaimed while waiting for the opening of swimming facilities in the future.
