Pool+ Community Activation Program

“If there is water, there is life.” This not only is true for plants or animals but also for humans, especially children. We all know the images of kids playing in the fountain - everywhere in the world. But water is not everywhere. Especially in our megacities, it has disappeared in sewers or behind flood walls.
Shenzhen is exemplary in this. While located at the coast and crisscrossed by rivers, the topic of water does nor really manifest itself in the city. We felt that there is room to change that. Not by adding yet another lake far away, but by bringing water to the local communities as a quality and as an attractor to gather people. We called it POOL+. In the meantime, three editions of bringing water to the community have taken place successfully. Next to kids - and grown-ups - enjoying water, the events were also used for cultural entertainment and climate change education playfully.
In the Chinese context, POOL+ has become the precedent for inspiring new directions of tactical urbanism and community engagement transcending the domains of planning, placemaking, culture, education and joy.