DESIGN for COASTALSCAPE. The spatial dimension of land-sea planning

The PhD examines the phenomenon of coastal territories and their land and sea dynamics by a planning perspective. The study starts from the consideration that half of the world’s population interacts daily with the sea through living in coastal cities and that these geographical areas are under constant pressure from anthropic activities and climate change threats. This doctoral dissertation aims to understand how a well-structured framework of knowledge about land-sea interactions might enhance the resilience of coastalscapes. The research considers multiple approaches to tackle the topic from diverse points of view. The PhD path is divided into two key milestones. The first key milestone of the research, coming along on a double literature review on land-sea interactions, attempts to detect, find gaps and build a framework of knowledge on land-sea interactions in order to make more accessible the topic to scientists and policymakers. The second key milestone endeavours to enlarge the knowledge gained from the first key milestone; by looking at the coastal area through a different lens, it tries to interpret the land-sea interactions phenomena that shape the coastalscape. This milestone is based on multiple case studies approach through a mapping analysis. The first phase is focused on understanding the typologies of anthropic and natural environments present in the case studies through three types of mapping analysis. The second phase zooms in on edge to understand the components of the coastalscape by revealing a common mapping language. The approach and methods used in the research - the double literature review, fluxes schemes and mapping - have contributed to the knowledge and even though applied on four specific cases can be relevant as guidance through the study of other cases.