Midlen, Alex - LITTORAL 2010 - Social Context for Integrated Management

8/8/2019 Midlen, Alex - LITTORAL 2010 - Social Context for Integrated Management

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Social, economic and environmental inequalities

in coastal communities: understanding thecontext for integrated management

Alex Midlen, CoastNet



Context

What do inequalities have to do with coastal management?

Meeting political priorities

Making coastal management relevant to mainstream society

How is coastal management relevant to:

Health Education Welfare State

Banking Crisis Economic Recovery



Social inequalities

The coast is on the periphery.

Does this matter for society? It seems that it does.

43% of Englands most deprived communities are in coastal

places

Of Englands main coastal towns, 75% are highly vulnerable to

contraction of the public sector

Comparing the GVA per head of coastal local authorities with

inland, the coastal areas underperform by over 40%



Economic inequalities

As well as social issues it matters for economic issues, which are

of course closely related

Research in the East of England suggested that coastal

economy was largely self-contained

Research into seaside resorts in England showed a larger

proportion of low paid jobs

Research in North West England showed that in coastal places

the economic disparities were perhaps more extreme e.g.

the gap between the wealthy and the poor being greater



Environmental inequalities

Environmental inequalities include risk from coastal and climate

change and the extent to which environmental resources are

protected and their use restricted



Implications for policy



Characterising settlements

Settlements, and therefore communities on the coast are

diverse.

Could a typology of settlements improve understanding?





A typology of coastal settlements

The first challenge is to have recognised that both urban and

rural have a unique coastal class

What parameters would a coastal settlement typology include?

Standard morphological (eg size), combined with

functional (eg seaside resort, maritime city, small fishingharbour, etc)



Settlement class key characteristics (ILLUSTRATIVE) implications

UK seaside resort town Seasonal economy,

former holiday accommodation now providing

cheap rented accommodation all year,

large public realm,

aging population

Low value accommodation attracts low skilled

and those in poor health

Cost per resident of maintaining public realm

higher than elsewhere

large proportion of adults economically

inactive

maritime city Industrialised waterfront with declining or closed

bulk goods storage, processing, manufacture

Dense, small housing originally for workers of

labour intensive industries

good transport links to waterfront (and centre)

Large waterfront development sites, but in a

place removed from centres of economic

activity and demand for these services

Opportunities for exploiting offshore

development (if planning allocations retain the

infrastructure)

small fishing harbour Relatively small scale infrastructure and

therefore picturesque, partial tourism economy,

aging population, few jobs and access to fish

resource declining

Close to loosing its USP, as the fishing fleet

declines. Will the tourist offer adapt?

??



Economic policy

Deindustrialisation and global change leaves a legacy of

challenges for the coast:

Waterfront development land without critical mass of service users

Large housing stock built for workers in industrial revolution providing

large stock for low paid, low skilled workers

Transition from labour intensive to technology intensive services (eg port

goods handling)

Transition from industrial economy to service economy, at the

geographical periphery

Changing nature of tourism economy and impacts on seaside leisure and

housing infrastructure



Environmental policy

Adaptation to risk such as to erosion or flood risks requires

unique approaches

Community access to resources for adaptation would reflect

ICZM Principles better than top-down policies



Implications for integrated management

Establishing priorities in a broad social/economic/environmental context

Understanding the dynamics of coastal settlements in a historic and future

context (eg development land) at national level to provide clear guidance

Community approaches to management should be enabled

Places required to adapt often lack the resources to do so

Where coastal economies underperform investment decisions should take

environmental risk into account



CoastNet activities: we practice what we preach

Wales: recommending clear priorities and putting coast at the

centre of territorial planning

East of England: recommending coastal literacy as basis forcommunity approaches

Plymouth: raising aspirations in a deprived community

Essex: community planning in flood risk zones

Imcore project: adaptation to climate change

Community protest groups promoting adaptive co-

management

Documents

Midlen, Alex - LITTORAL 2010 - Social Context for Integrated Management