Designing resilient cities: Daniel Valentini on why urban waterscapes matter more than ever

What are urban waterscapes, and how do you define the term?

At SLU Urban Futures, we use the term urban waterscapes to refer to the interrelationships between water and society, and their spatial consequences. Studying urban waterscapes means looking at how water is accessed, valued, controlled, and moves through space and time – shaped by climate, nature, culture, geography, technology and markets. In short, waterscapes represent the dynamic systems, landscapes and narratives around water in urban contexts.

For a more concise explanation, I often describe urban waterscapes as the intersection between urban development and water-related challenges, such as stormwater management, adapting to rising sea levels, or the renaturalization of rivers and shorelines.

What sparked your interest in urban waterscapes?

What fascinates me is the inherent tension between cities – as human-made systems – and water as a natural force that challenges human control. It’s a kind of counterweight to anthropocentric thinking. On a more practical level, urban areas must learn to adapt to water. The impacts of climate change – whether that’s extreme rainfall, flooding, or drought – are intensifying, and cities need to be better prepared. The complexity of planning, designing and managing urban environments to handle these extremes is very interesting.

What are some key challenges or knowledge gaps in the field today?

One major challenge lies in developing interdisciplinary expertise to design, manage and maintain multifunctional urban spaces. These spaces need to provide resilient habitats not just for humans, but for multiple species, and they must be able to withstand shifting water conditions. There's a real need for more research on how to create urban landscapes that are adaptive, inclusive, and ecologically sound in the face of climate uncertainty. 

What role will waterscapes play in the climate-adapted cities of the future?

Waterscapes will play an increasingly important role in urban climate adaptation. We’re already seeing the need to adapt to rising sea levels, but future cities will also have to manage extreme fluctuations in water presence. Long periods of drought may be followed by intense rain events – “century rains” – before returning to arid conditions. At the same time, preserving water quality and availability will become increasingly important. These diverse challenges highlight why future cities must rethink their relationship with water – and integrate waterscape-thinking into all aspects of urban planning and development.

Do you have any examples of how cities are planning with water in mind?

Many cities in Sweden and beyond are starting to adopt strategies that work with, rather than against, natural water systems. In Sweden, parts of Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö have implemented viable climate adaptation strategies that integrate water into the urban landscape. A concrete example is the Rosendal district in Uppsala, where raingardens are used to capture, filter, and slowly release rainwater, helping to reduce flood risk and improve water quality. Concepts like blue-green infrastructure and nature-based solutions are now common in urban planning and reflect a broader shift toward working with ecological systems to manage urban water challenges more sustainably.

What advice would you give students or early-career researchers interested in working with urban water issues?

Do it! There are plenty of opportunities in this field – for instance within municipalities, planning departments, or environmental consultancies. At SLU, both the landscape architecture and landscape engineering programs in Ultuna and Alnarp offer pathways to specialize in waterscapes. It’s a growing, urgent area of work – and a truly exciting one.