Streets of Water
Venice, given its position as an archipelago of the coast of Italy, has no cars on its streets. Its streets don’t even have spaces for cars and the only way between each of its islands are these large arching bridges untraversable for scooters, bikes, and large carts. Since Venice is so hard to traverse by land with carts, the canals are more than just a picturesque sight for tourists and a place for romantic gondola rides. These waterways are the roads of Venice used by boats serving the same purposes as cars, trucks, and buses in more terrestrial cities.
As a tourist the only ways to traverse the city is by walking or by taking one of the city’s many water taxis, which operate in the same way as a bus does in another city. The water taxis, acting as buses, move people around the archipelago of a city and allow people to leave the city and visit other nearby islands or to go directly to and from the airport built on the mainland of Italy. Another logistical challenge for any city is waste management. For a typical city, garbage trucks drive through the city, stopping at each trashcan to collect the waste and then drive to their collection site. Venice, lacking streets that can hold traditional garbage trucks that can navigate to any trash can, rely on people to collect trash via these specialized carts which then can be picked up by garbage boats to collect all of the trash. This system allows for trash made in the interior of the islands to be collected and moved via the waterways to their collection points outside of the immediate city. Another example of a municipal service provided by boat is the police. Without roads for police to enforce road laws, the Venetian drive specialized police boats meant for enforcing the laws meant to keep the canals safe. Anything that people rely on cars or specialized work vehicles for in cities has to be done by specialized boats meaning that Venice has a lot of unique and creative boat designs.
-Andy
Rubbish & Recycling in Venice. (n.d.). The Venice Neighbours. Retrieved April 24, 2025, from https://www.theveniceneighbours.com/waste/
the Vaporetto. (n.d.). AVM. Retrieved April 24, 2025, from https://avm.avmspa.it/en/content/vaporetto
