Due to climate change the water level in the Dutch rivers will rise the next century. In the current situation flood defence systems have reached their maximum capacity. The Deltacommissie (2008) recommends measurements in most parts of the river landscape. The trend is to give the rivers more space instead of strengthening the water defence. This leads to a paradox in urban areas, where the built environment takes up the space close to the river. For a river city the experience of the water is important, it gives identity to the place. So is there a way to strengthen the relation between the city and the water and keep the river cities dry? The location of the project is the river city Zutphen, a medium sized city with 50,000 inhabitants in the eastern part of the Netherlands. Zutphen is located on the east bank of the river IJssel, where the Berkel flows into the IJssel. On the west bank is a small settlement, a neighborhood of Zutphen, with enough space for floodplains. The two riverbanks are totally opposite, an urban- and a natural riverfront. Aim of the project is to give the city more experience of the water by integrating the public quay with the inner-city and surrounding areas. A former industry area in the north of Zutphen, along the river, will be redeveloped with inner-city functions. How can these future developments contribute to more experience of the water in the city? Many river cities have the same circumstances as the project location: same urban structure, presence of secondary river, future developments along the river. Four of these cities are studied, the aim is to find which urban elements contribute to an open relation between the city and the water. Generic solutions found in this research are implemented in the case of Zutphen.