Peeling back the Pavement - POLIS Water Sustainability Project

CONCLUSION
A BLUEPRINT TO CHANGE THE FUTURE
The Rainwater City tells one possible tale of the future: cities grow and are retrofitted
to have less concrete and minimize runoff, and use rain as a primary water
supply. Ensuring that land and water management decisions are integrated and
made on a watershed basis is key to making this story a reality. As the Blueprint
for the Rainwater City demonstrates, correcting governance and making structural
changes to government departments are important steps. The Rainwater City isn’t
just a pipe(less) dream. Many cities across the world are already putting the principles
of a Rainwater City into action by managing rainwater in concert with natural
systems. Philadelphia, Portland, and Seattle are just some of the communities that
are pioneering this path. In Canada, cities from coast to coast are also beginning to
adopt innovative and more holistic approaches to managing wet weather, including
Victoria, Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Halifax, and many other smaller communities
in British Columbia and Ontario.
However, the full vision of the Rainwater City has yet to be realized. No community
in Canada has yet managed to incorporate all the elements necessary to catalyze
a new era of designing with nature and water-centric municipal planning. No community
is truly built around using rain as a resource—at least not yet.
For the first time in history,
the majority of the world’s
population lives in cities. How
our cities grow, how we build
and retrofit neighbourhoods,
how we provide housing, how
we choose to get around, how
well we incorporate nature into
Transitioning to a Rainwater City
does not mean doing old things
better. It means fundamentally
shifting our relationship with
water in our daily lives.
the places we live, and how we make collective decisions will largely determine our
future. In cities, the way in which rain and snowfall are managed is fundamental to
determining how the urban ecosystem will interact with the natural water cycle.
Transitioning to a Rainwater City does not mean doing old things better. It means
fundamentally shifting our relationship with water in our daily lives. It requires us
to see rain differently, break old habits, think and act on new design principles, and
harness the full spectrum of nature’s services in our cities.
Achieving this new future will mean a shift towards accommodating nature’s water
needs and fully understanding and considering the impacts our actions have on
water. It will require innovation in planning and redevelopment, integration of
land and water use, and a clear priority to ensure watershed function. By considering
the needs of the natural environment, we can ensure that our communities
continue to thrive and prosper. The transition to a Rainwater City is no longer an
unattainable vision. It is a necessity.
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