An urban beach, or city beach, is defined by urban planners as an artificially created environment in an urban setting that simulates a natural public beach through the use of sand, umbrellas and seating elements. It does not include swimming or any sort of natural sloping shoreline into the water (i.e. it is not a natural beach that happens to be in an urban area). The very point of the urban beach is to surprise and delight city residents, workers and tourists by inserting a beach atmosphere into an urban area that would otherwise be typical cityscape.
There are many variations of urban beaches. Typically urban beaches are found along waterways, though some are inserted into town squares or other spaces far from water. The beach may be a seasonal installation over a roadway or parking lot, or it may be permanent. It is not necessarily public land though it is always open to the general public (sometimes with a small admission fee). As river or ocean swimming is not possible, many urban beaches include water features -- for example fountains, wading pools or misting towers -- for cooling off. Some urban beaches feature entertainment and food/beverage areas. A few include sports facilities such as beach volleyball.
Most urban beaches are designed to appeal to a general population, from families to young singles to older citizens. Despite the absence of swimming, swimwear is commonly seen alongside the more usual attire seen in major urban centres.
The popularity of urban beaches has increased in the early 21st century as the concept has been championed by urban planners, landscape architects and local politicians.
Read more about Urban Beach: Origins, Beach Bars, List of Urban Beaches
Famous quotes containing the words urban and/or beach:
“Commercial jazz, soap opera, pulp fiction, comic strips, the movies set the images, mannerisms, standards, and aims of the urban masses. In one way or another, everyone is equal before these cultural machines; like technology itself, the mass media are nearly universal in their incidence and appeal. They are a kind of common denominator, a kind of scheme for pre-scheduled, mass emotions.”
—C. Wright Mills (1916–62)
“The seashore is a sort of neutral ground, a most advantageous point from which to contemplate this world. It is even a trivial place. The waves forever rolling to the land are too far-traveled and untamable to be familiar. Creeping along the endless beach amid the sun-squall and the foam, it occurs to us that we, too, are the product of sea-slime.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)