Origins, management, and measurement of stress on the coast of southern Spain

Citation
Gm. Garcia et al., Origins, management, and measurement of stress on the coast of southern Spain, COAST MANAG, 28(3), 2000, pp. 215-234
Citations number
18
Categorie Soggetti
Environment/Ecology
Journal title
COASTAL MANAGEMENT
ISSN journal
08920753 → ACNP
Volume
28
Issue
3
Year of publication
2000
Pages
215 - 234
Database
ISI
SICI code
0892-0753(200007/09)28:3<215:OMAMOS>2.0.ZU;2-P
Abstract
For political reasons Spain's Costa del Sol had until recently presented a classic example of reactive coastal management. The 1988 Coasts Act introdu ced a more proactive approach, but its management still lacks a scientific classification of the coastline upon which to base coastal policy. Such an overgeneralized delineation of the coastal domain generally ignores the var iations in physical and socioeconomic variables and is likely to lead to ov ersimplified management practices. Against the background of the policies a dopted over the past 50 years, this article presents an index that delineat es different degrees of sensitivity of the coastline of the Costa del Sol. A geographical information system (GIS) approach is adopted in the construc tion of the index that recognizes that coastal vulnerability is equally a f unction of physical processes and human activities. Four physical (litholog y, landforms, river discharge, marine processes) and two anthropomorphic (p opulation growth, urbanization) components are incorporated, and the result s are applied to produce a broadly based measure for policy making in south ern Spain that also has applicability in other coastal situations.