The “Renaturation” of Urban Rivers: The Case of the St Charles River in Quebec

La "renaturation" des rivières urbaines : le cas de la rivière Saint-Charles au Québec

Alexandre Brun (1)

1 UMR ART-Dev - Acteurs, Ressources et Territoires dans le Développement

Urban rivers are central to city planning policies. The aim is to clean up rivers and encourage the return of citizens to their banks. The challenge is to align the interests of developers, water users, and politicians. In the case of the St Charles River, the City of Quebec has combined a large urban renewal program with a project to restore the aquatic ecosystem. This project provides an example of how cities in Quebec are now playing a larger role in water management than they did previously. This paper suggests that the restoration of urban rivers should be associated with a project for economic and social development. Furthermore, restoration (called in this paper “renaturation”) is not enough: cities must also fight against urban sprawl and more effectively protect their freshwater supplies and wetlands.

Mots clés: drainage basin; river bank; urban sprawl; Quebec city

Domaines: Sciences de l'Homme et Société; Architecture, aménagement de l'espace; Etudes de l'environnement; Géographie

Alexandre Brun. The “Renaturation” of Urban Rivers: The Case of the St Charles River in Quebec. Grafton Q.; Daniell K.; Nauges C.; Rinaudo JD.; Chan N. Understanding and Managing Urban Water in Transition., vol 15., Springer, pp.527-548, 2015, Global Issues in Water Policy, 978-94-017-9800-6. ⟨10.1007/978-94-017-9801-3_24⟩. ⟨hal-02568977⟩