European coastal areas and opportunities for sustainable transformations

The European coastal areas are characterised by various morphologies with the presence of hills, cliffs, rocks, beaches and ports, the latter very often situated in the middle of a high densely urbanised areas. The urban and landscape planning have to necessarily take into account the relations and possible conflicts between urbanised areas, such as ports, industrial and residential areas and natural ones. Coastal landscapes across Europe are often characterized by competing land uses where settlements and infrastructure, especially road and train networks, are located. Conversely, the tourism industry is also a major driving force with its own development dynamics and typical spatial patterns. In the post-covid society the demand for open spaces is growth, especially on the coastline for the access to the sea as a very strong natural place. Moreover, the need of open space of proximity near the residential areas and of the well-known benefits of the coastal areas for health are increasing in the post-covid society. Water-based recreation has various positive effects on human health and wellbeing – in relation to physical exercise and mental wellbeing, which is one of the main reasons to pursue the widest possible access to the seaside. The sea-city interface is also an important and often vulnerable habitat zone for flora and fauna which brings additional demands on such areas and also places them at risk from damage and degradation the territory. Moreover the natural risks, such as coastal erosion or landslides together with flooding, due to the current climate change, reclaim a special attention in designing green/blue infrastructure to solve the landscape fragmentation . The paper is focused on the description of the main features of some European urban coastal areas highlighting the strong demand for coastal open space and consequent conflicts aiming at give some suggestions for planning.