What makes a beach a beach?
In some cases, throwing a little sand on the sidewalk does the trick.
In the last couple decades, cities around the world have been creating "urban beaches," temporary or permanent parks that offer the pleasures of the seaside without the cost of getting there.
Generally, they feature sand, reclining chairs, and a more casual dress code than your average park.
Some have sand-castle contests, dance lessons, cocktails, volleyball, concerts and more.
Check out these seven urban beaches from around the world.
Plage de l'Hotel de Ville: Saint-Quentin, France
Saint-Quentin, a city of 60,000 to the northeast of Paris, built what is considered the first modern artificial city beach in front of the city hall in 1996. Paris later adopted the idea and received much of the credit, but Saint-Quentin got there first. The beach features ping-pong, trampolines, swimming, and has its own radio station.
Paris-Plages: Paris, France
Paris's famous six-week beach installation has two prime locations: the original, on the banks of the Seine at the city center, which was the catalyst for the urban beach movement; and the expansion, on the Bassin de la Villette in the city’s hip northeast quarter.
Paris-Plages has mini-golf, dance lessons, a lending library, and of course, that quintessential Parisian park activity, boules. The downside is that with over 3 million visitors in 2011, it can get crowded. And sunbathing à la française is punishable by fine.
Havneparken: Copenhagen, Denmark
Unlike most urban beaches, the harbor baths complex at Islands Brygge was built for swimming. It features a fifteen-foot high-dive, and the water is as clean as the ocean and constantly monitored online.
On a hot summer day, people swim not just in the floating baths complex but all along the quay. Unfortunately, the average high temperature for Copenhagen in July and August is 69 degrees.
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