Rome to Build Artificial Tiber Beach for Tourists by Next Summer

According to plans announced by Rome's mayor Virginia Raggi, the city is planning to develop an artificial beach on the banks of the river Tiber next summer.

According to the proposal, it envisages to transform 10,000 sqm of riverside land near Ponte Marconi into a sandy beach – based on the Parisian model – with the addition of sporting areas. The plan to reclaim the once abandoned land, between the S. Paolo and Marconi districts south of the city centre, is part of a wider redevelopment project to make the Tiber "more usable" for Rome residents.

Raggi said the beach initiative is the first step in the Tiber's "path of recovery" as Rome's river does not represent "a living and pulsating part of the city unlike many European capitals."

The crux of the plan is to establish a special Tiber office which will allow for collaboration between the numerous authorities responsible for the upkeep of the river, pooling information across a range of issues including the environment, dredging, flooding, cycle paths, dumping and illegal camps.

Raggi said she is also planning for the installation of 12.5-km riverside cycle track to connect the capital with the coast at Fiumicino.

Rome has previously also created man-made beach on River Tiber in 2005 former mayor Walter Veltroni launched the Tevere Village beach under Castel S. Angelo, between Ponte S. Angelo and Ponte Umberto I.