Water resilient Järfälla

Water-Resilient Järfälla: A dual strategy plan for water resilience By Evy de Bruine, Maria Viteri, Stella Levin and Tycho Taeckens

Urban areas like Järfälla exhibit a paradoxical relationship with water, heavily relying on it as a resource while disrupting the natural water cycle. Simultaneously, this disruption makes these urban areas vulnerable to flooding, drought and therefore also water and soil contamination, which are the three main problems in our research-project. The attitude of the urban towards water is usually a case of 'out of sight, out of mind’, mostly dealing with water through a cen­tralized invisible drainage system. This, however, focuses purely on the supply and demand of water as a resource and does not acknowledge water as part of an ecological entity. This report researches urban water management from a new perspective. Currently, water-related challen­ges, such as flooding, drought, and contamination are all in the first place considered challenges because of the effects of climate change. In this report, however, we argue that water challen­ges are considered challenges because of the way we live and build our cities, not the other way around (Watson & Adams, 2010). So instead of adapting to heavier rainfall by artificial so­lutions, this report goes to the origin of the problem, which is a lack of planning and design.

The main problem which Järfälla has recurring is flooding. In a mere biotic landscape, flooding is considered a necessary natural process. For instance, flooding enriches the fertility of the soil, creates habitats, supports biodiversity, and so on. However, because of considering flooding as a disaster, flooding as a natural process is little understood and appreciated within urban plan­ning. These insights thus show how the first shift that needs to happen is a mental one, which understands water as a part of a cycle and thus looks at water from an ecological perspective.

The main objective of this report is to tackle three main challenges regarding water in Järfälla: flooding, drought, and water and soil contamination. This essay argues that these problems are intertwined. Flooding and drought are interconnected through the hydrological cycle. Excessi­ve rainfall can lead to flooding, while prolonged periods of reduced rainfall result in drought. Water and soil contamination can exacerbate these issues. Contaminated soil may not absorb water efficiently, increasing runoff during heavy rainfall and contributing to flooding. Conver­sely, during droughts, the presence of contaminants in the soil can affect water quality, ma­king it even scarcer and potentially harmful for human consumption. As mentioned, the exis­ting approach primarily involves expelling water from the city using centralized artificial systems. While this method addresses flood risk, it falls short in addressing issues related to contami­nation, drought, and water scarcity. Moreover, this type of drainage makes it possible to seal the soil further to generate profit. Today, urban development still is mostly associated with ex­pansion and concretization. This essay wants to break through this association by introducing new ways of dealing with these challenges. The question is thus: how can we bridge daily hu­man needs - living, transport, and consumption - in a way they don’t disturb the water cycle?

THE FULL REPORT HERE

POSTER HERE