The relationship between the city of Buenos Aires and the Rio de la Plata is paradoxical. Intrinsically linked, the city today seems to almost deny the river’s existence. The coastline is now an undefined area where motorways, airports, port and industrial zones, semi-ecological reserves, non-places and other areas inaccessible to the casual passer-by are crammed together and follow one another. The rapidly expanding city also extends over land reclaimed from the river without changing the relationship between the city and the water.

To the south, the city is bordered by the Riachuelo River, whose mouth into the Rio de la Plata gave its name to the La Boca neighbourhood. Formerly an important hub for the city’s industrial and agricultural export activity, it is now completely contaminated by both industrial waste and untreated sewage. This polluted geographical border makes it an area that is largely overlooked by the city, which for two centuries has favoured development in the north over the south.

But beyond the riverfronts that were essential to the economic development of Buenos Aires, the city also welcomed water within its boundaries. It is crossed by 12 basins drained by as many rivers flowing into either the Rio de la Plata to the east or the Riachuelo to the south.

However, these streams were soon used as dumping grounds, and following the yellow fever epidemics of the 19th century, the completely contaminated rivers were perceived as a threat to public health. With flooding also frequent during heavy rains, the development and modernisation of the city considered these rivers to be obstacles to urban growth. The solution at the time was to bury and channel these waterways, destroying the entire dependent ecosystem and the drainage functions of permeable soils. Ultimately, this solution neither completely cleaned up the water nor totally eliminated the risk of flooding, as burying is not solving.