ABSTRACT
This chapter offers a general introduction to the positive and negative aspects of building cities on water. Water is a medium that affects all the senses, giving it both agency and expressive potential; it is at once a barrier and a means of communication; it is an essential amenity for life; and has been a source of power for millennia. Ports have always played a crucial role in the exchange and dissemination of news and ideas. Although the visual qualities of water enhance the townscape, dampness, drought and flood demand careful management. Bridges, waterfronts and harbours have to negotiate changing water levels, but they have theatrical and performative roles as well as practical functions. As for the future, the aquatic equilibrium is a fragile one: our cities now have to adapt to the growing threat of natural disasters and, increasingly, to our own impact on the environment.
