2021 China Fellowship
Examining Social Justice Beneath the Surface: Taking European Public Swimming Pools as a Clue

Research Background and Significance

The swimming pool is a public space with visual and tactile intimacy. The ownership of swimming pools has always been in dispute, relating to social segregation, racial discrimination, gender equality, and immigrant integration.

In 2600 BC the first swimming pool was built in Pakistan, which is considered to have been used for religious ceremonies rather than bathing or swimming. Later in ancient Greece and Rome, swimming pools were regarded as public spaces exclusive to the upper class, where people bathed, swam, read, and held social activities. It was not until the nineteenth century that swimming became popular as a sport in places such as England, Germany, and Sweden. However, the preciousness of water resources limited the possibility of swimming pools as public spaces in communities where working class or disadvantaged groups lived. Most could only swim or bathe in public rivers and lakes.

In the United States in the nineteenth century, middle-class men did not allow black men and middle-class women to swim in the same pool, which triggered a series of movements to occupy the swimming pool. In response, the rich turned their attention to the private swimming pool as a symbol of wealth and freedom. The swimming pool became a must-have item in the villa even if it was seldom used. The rise of private swimming pools helped lead to the decline of public swimming pools, and the government no longer seemed as invested in constructing them. First, with the rising affordability of indoor plumbing, people’s bathing problem no longer needed to be solved by building swimming pools. Second, swimming is affected by climate conditions such as temperature. In winter, a large number of swimming pools will become empty spaces in the city. At the same time, people are no longer allowed to swim in many rivers and lakes and swimming pools are getting farther and farther away from vulnerable groups.

Public swimming pools have unique community attributes because people often come to the swimming pool from different parts of the city, change into their swimsuits, and have intimate contact with the water in a very public setting. Jeff Wiltse wrote in the book Contested Waters: A Social History of Swimming Pools in America that the social status of people fades away in swimming pools, and everyone can enjoy freedom and fairness in it. Therefore, I believe that the swimming pool not only has the potential to enable everyone to enjoy the public life of the community, but also is a mirror that reflects social justice.

In epidemic and post-epidemic times, virtual public spaces have replaced traditional physical ones. But I believe that the vitality of the city lies in real encounters and the coexistence of people, which can inspire public power. The epidemic has aggravated the inequality of public space. Through examining the importance of public pools, I hope to make more people aware of the importance of this kind of community intimacy and its role in contributing to social justice.

Research Purposes

1. Fill in gaps in public swimming pool research by investigating the current status of community swimming pools.

2. Test potentials for social justice by visiting and analyzing existing public swimming pools in Europe.

3. Research how to maintain social fairness and community intimacy in a hydrophilic space in post-epidemic times.

4. Explore the possibility of swimming pool development in the future by defining new functions and transformations.

Research Methods

1. Site Visit: Investigate more than thirty existing public water spaces of different types in Europe (swimming pools, urban waterfront spaces, river renovation projects, etc.) and explore the long-term management challenges of public swimming pools and future possibilities from the aspect of the city, community, person, and pool itself.

2. Interviews: Interview the people in charge of urban public swimming pools such as Matthias Oloew, spokesperson for Berlin public swimming pools, and architectural offices that focus on the design of urban hydrophilic spaces such as White Arkitekter Community, public space manager.

3. Questionnaire: Learn from community residents about the functional needs of the swimming pool and their expectations for the future of swimming pools through online questionnaires and analyze the inequality in the daily use of the swimming pool.

Research Spots

The survey points are concentrated in the areas where swimming pools first emerged in France, Germany, Switzerland, and the Nordic region. First, because Northern Europe still maintains a bathing culture and governments and individuals attach importance to swimming pools as a public space; second, because Northern Europe has abundant water resources and easily accessible waterfront space; and third, because in the United States swimming pools have gradually become a kind of private space and there are fewer public swimming pools in Southern Europe.

Personal Interests

My interest in swimming pools stems from the experience of swimming in outdoor reservoirs in childhood. When it was hot, many people jumped into it to play and swim. Even people who could not swim would enjoy this public life on the on the banks. After that, swimming was confined to the indoor sports pool and the pool was no longer a freely accessible public place. More recently, the Chinese government set up a waterway where people could wet their feet in a public square, which became a lively place in the community after dinner. The splashing water is fair and kind to everyone.