Toward the Relational City: Imaginaries, Expertise, Experiments - Politics of Urban Runoff: Nature, Technology, and the Sustainable City - page 194

frequently prohibited in existing regulatory frameworks. Technomanage-
rial bureaucracies tend to be overly rigid in their pursuit of certainty and
prevent new relations from being tested.
This lack of experimental thinking is particularly evident in Austin,
where traditional engineering practices and land use regulations dominate
the urban stormwater discourse. Many of the respondents expressed a
desire to try different approaches that are not allowed by existing regula-
tions. A Watershed Department staff member summarizes this position:
“Personally, I'm much more willing to let a lot of this innovative stuff go
through with some level of rigor and evaluation but let's just fi nd out,
do some experimentation. It can be a big experiment about what works
and what doesn't work. Right now, a huge percentage of our runoff is
not treated anyway so why not do a little experimentation and then see
where we are.” 29 This perspective follows on Dewey's call for experimental
thinking in governance: “The formation of states must be an experimental
process . . . the State must always be rediscovered.” 30 This process of dis-
covery can be fostered and encouraged through civic politics that develop
experimental projects of relation building. Such an approach fosters imagi-
native and innovative solutions that can stimulate changes in social habits
and values. 31 The emergence of the Natural Drainage System Approach
in Seattle—particularly its largest iteration at the High Point Redevelop-
ment—points to a process of changing codes by experimentation from
within the municipal government. Refl ecting on the importance of SEA
Street to municipal code building, environmental planner Eran Ben-Joseph
writes, “Ultimately the endorsement and backing of local jurisdictions of
unconventional practices together with their economic benefi ts will create
momentum for change. Experimentation and fl uidity would replace exact-
ing rules. Principles would transcend codes and standards.” 32
However, the municipal experiments conducted by the City of Seattle
are constrained to some extent by the existing structures of expertise and
regulation. More radical experimentation is also taking place in Austin
and Seattle but in another arena: the university. At the University of Wash-
ington, landscape architect Daniel Winterbottom initiated a design/build
program in 1998 aimed at engaging students in collaborative community
projects, similar to Spirn's work at Mill Creek. 33 Winterbottom's students
work with community members to design and construct public facilities
in parks and community gardens. Water fl ows are often a central element
of these projects; rainwater harvesting systems and artistic expressions
of cultural water symbols (e.g., salmon, raindrops) are used to make an
explicit connection between community building and urban hydrologic