Speaker
Description
The planetary crisis, driven by the accelerating impacts of climate change and environmental degradation, places coastal areas at the forefront of a global challenge. These transitional spaces between land and sea are home to a significant proportion of the world’s population, rich cultural heritage, and essential ecosystems. Yet, they face escalating pressures from hazards such as sea-level rise, coastal erosion, and extreme temperatures, which disrupt social, economic, and ecological systems. In this context, spatial planning emerges as a transformative tool to mediate competing interests and navigate the complexities of coastal adaptation, ensuring socio-ecological resilience.
The concept of the coast itself encapsulates the multidimensional nature of this challenge. Ketchum (1972) defines the coast as “the band of dry land and adjacent ocean space (water and submerged soil) where terrestrial processes and land uses directly affect oceanic processes and uses, and vice versa.” However, Sorensen and McCreary’s (1990) distinction between coastal zones and coastal areas highlights the ambiguity and variability of these spaces, shaped by ecological, geomorphological, and socio-economic forces. This plurality complicates efforts to define, delimit, and manage coastal territories, which are intrinsically fluid and dynamic.
Historically, coasts have been recognized as fragile and high-risk environments. Bultrighini’s (2013) exploration of coastalness versus inlandness in the Mediterranean underscores the intrinsic vulnerability of coastal areas and their heightened exposure to risks compared to inland territories. Climate change exacerbates these vulnerabilities, intensifying tensions linked to urbanization, tourism, and ecological degradation. Coastal territories remain exposed to overlapping hazards that transcend administrative and disciplinary boundaries, challenging the capacity of existing governance frameworks to provide effective solutions.
This contribution critically examines the interplay between definitions, delimitations, and vulnerabilities in coastal areas, aiming to inform more effective planning and governance practices. Drawing on perspectives from geography, environmental studies, and urban planning, it explores how differing conceptualizations of coastal spaces influence the identification of hazards and the design of adaptive strategies. Coastal areas cannot be managed merely as physical spaces through sectoral technical tools; they demand an integrated, interdisciplinary approach. Planning must embrace the coast as a complex system, where ecological, economic, social, and cultural variables intersect.
Spatial planning, when applied to coastal management, faces the challenge of integrating multiple scales and addressing the inherent dynamism of these areas. To become a transformative tool, planning must account for the hybrid nature of coastal systems, balancing ecological integrity with socio-economic needs, overcoming static boundaries and disciplinary silos, and fostering resilience by recognizing the fluidity and interconnectedness of coastal environments.
This initial phase of research focuses on defining and delimiting coastal spaces, recognizing that governance tools currently in place often fail to capture the complex, transboundary nature of these territories. The task of managing coastal areas requires acknowledging their hybrid and fragile character, where diverse and overlapping interests intersect. Understanding these territories as dynamic systems necessitates a deeper inquiry into the reasons, they remain central to academic and policy debates. By exploring these dynamics, the aim is to reshape coastal governance frameworks, leveraging interdisciplinary collaboration and multi-scalar approaches to transform coastal resilience and sustainability into a cornerstone of the response to the planetary crisis.
References
Bultrighini, I. (2013) 'Παραλία καì Μεσόγεια: “Coastalness” and “Inlandness” in the Ancient Greek World.' CHS Research Bulletin, 1 (2).
Ketchum, B.H. (1972) 'The water's edge: critical problems of the coastal zone.' In: Coastal Zone Workshop. Woods Hole, MA: The MIT Press, p. 414.
Sorensen, J.C. and McCreary, S.T. (1990) Institutional Arrangements for Managing Coastal Resources and Environments. Washington, D.C.: National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior.
| Keywords | Climate adaptation; coastal governance; transformative planning; territorial resilience; interdisciplinary planning |
|---|---|
| Best Congress Paper Award | No |
