Water, Cities and Identity

The paper aims to contribute to the overall agenda of Water and Civilisation by highlighting the concept of civilisation and the role of the city in relation to water.

The concept of civilisation can be traced back to the concept of civitas which is term derived from civis, the citizen. They both relate to the concept of the city - as civitas refers to the society consisted of citizens. This paper aims to explore the nature of the deeply rooted phenomenon that cities and water always somehow come together and interlink on many levels.

There are three main types of cities on water in which this intriguing relationship develops: the city on the river, the city on the lake and the city at seaside/ocean.

At each of these instances we can observe conditions in relation to which the life and identity of the city develops. Particular case in point for this paper is to investigate the perception and comprehension of cities' identity.