River Powers: Assembling Publics, Connections and Materials in a Global City

Abstract

Rivers are iconic. This chapter explores the capacity of rivers to enable commerce and trade, to enrol multiple publics, and to connect people, places, materials and technologies. Their very materiality, the flow of the water, has its effects. Rivers are vibrant and powerful and have the capacity to drown people in their waters, at the same time as enabling everyday pleasures—meandering along the riverbanks or sitting on a boat as it glides through the city. The meaning of rivers shifts and changes over time, from an unnoticed artery through the city to the motor for its economies and cultures. This chapter charts the histories and contemporary lives of urban rivers and their revival from neglected industrial wastelands to regenerated waterfronts.