So, I just had an idea to make villages on swamps viable.
A new item in the build menu, a Wooden Pole which would be the base for the Wooden Platforms. You'll need at least 2 poles to be aligned in order to make a wooden platform, this would be sort of like building a fence on which you extend the segments except that you would need 2 poles to start.
By adding more poles you can extend the platforms further and longer, the only downside is you can't build on the poles so you'll need to plan your actions carefully. After building the platform you can add wooden stairs to any of the sides, these would be the only way to get in and while building the actual platform you'll be swimming in the swamps.
You can build anything on the platform, but the decay rate would be similar to that of a forest so more maintenance would be needed.