![]() ![]() ![]() We, therefore, begin our quest by examining cities. Existing studies suggest the prominence of urban reclamation over agricultural reclamation over the recent decades (Alexander, 2019 Meng et al., 2017). Coastal reclamation involves a range of processes, including seawall construction, draining seawater, and infilling the enclosed space with various materials such as sand, gravel, and rocks (Chapman, 1984). We define coastal reclamation as the civil engineering activity that converts coastal wetlands or shallow seas into dry land or enclosed shallow water bodies. Filling this gap, this paper conducts a global quantitative analysis of coastal reclamation with high accuracy and precision. ![]() However, the spatial characteristics, magnitudes, and drivers of this “coastal reclamation” have been quantified mostly at national, regional or local levels (Jiang et al., 2021 Koh & Khim, 2014 Martin-Anton et al., 2016). This pressure, along with the emergence of the blue economy (Bugnot et al., 2021), has prompted the phenomenon whereby many of the world’s coastal cities assertively extend their boundaries seaward by filling in coastal wetlands and shallow seas (Sengupta et al., 2018). Urban expansion in the coastal zone, creating multi-purpose spaces including ports, industry, commerce, housing, and places for entertainment and leisure, has resulted in “ocean sprawl” (Firthet al., 2016). Population living in the Low Elevated Coastal Zone (LECZ), which was approximately between 750 million and 1.1 billion people in 2015 (MacManus et al., 2021a, 2021b), is estimated to increase by up to 71% by 2050 (Kulp & Strauss, 2019). Key PointsĬoastal regions face enormous pressure from the burgeoning human footprint (Doney, 2010 Halpern et al., 2019 Smart et al., 2021). While increased global trade and the rapid urbanization have driven these uses, we argue that a city's prestigious place-making effort to gain global reputation is emerging as another major driver underlying recent reclamation projects to create tourist and green spaces Meanwhile, the study suggests that 70% of recent reclamation has occurred in areas identified as potentially exposed to extreme sea level rise (SLR) by 2100 and this presents a significant challenge to sustainable development at the coast. The most common land uses on reclaimed spaces are port extension (>70 cities), followed by residential/commercial (30 cities) and industrial (19 cities). Reclamation is especially prominent in East Asia, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia, followed by Western Europe and West Africa. ![]() Findings indicate that 78% (106/135) of these major coastal cities have resorted to reclamation as a source of new ground, contributing a total 253,000 ha of additional land to the Earth's surface in the 21st century, equivalent to an area the size of Luxembourg. Here, we analyze Landsat satellite imagery from 2000 to 2020 to quantify the spatial extent, scale, and land use of urban coastal reclamation for 135 cities with populations in excess of 1 million. Until now, there has been no comprehensive assessment of the global distribution of land use on reclaimed space at the coast. Increasing population size and economic dependence on the coastal zone, coupled with the growing need for residential, agricultural, industrial, commercial and green space infrastructure, are key drivers of land reclamation. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |