Three examples of temporary stormwater catchments in dense urban areas: A sustainable development approach

The Seine Saint-Denis County Council carried out a study involving 200 wate r storage installations within its jurisdiction. The results showed that ma ny of the basins were inadequate in such a dense urban area. The main probl ems were the following: difficulty of access, insufficient maintenance and poor integration into the urban landscape. To remedy the situation, the DEA launched research and information projects aiming to foster the developmen t of techniques which would be better suited to dense urban areas, looking especially at catchments in parking lots, squares and other urban spaces. T hree examples follow, illustrating the high potential of these techniques a s well as the concrete or theoretical obstacles they may encounter. On a br oader level, the examples demonstrate that these techniques are part and pa rcel of a "sustainable development" approach. (C) 1999 IAWQ Published by El sevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.