Future of the coast: “Urgent common construction vision”

According to more than 200 specialists, there is an urgent need for a planning office that works on one large spatial implementation plan for the entire coastal and polder zone.

Challenges are big

Professor Emeritus of Spatial Planning Georges Allaert is not ready for his test. Together with all coastal spatial planning committees, the urbanist has now prepared a manifesto about the future of the coastal area. The challenges are great if they want to keep the zone liveable in the longer term.

“In the first instance, we are making an appeal to the Flemish government, which ultimately still does not have a clear vision in which direction the coast should go,” says Georges Allaert.

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“No vision”

According to the manifest, urbanization by the sea is too fragmented. There is a lack of a common vision on mobility, water management, tourism, industry and ecology. Every coastal municipality and every government is doing something, the manifesto says, but there are threats.

“It will certainly go wrong. Taking the climate story into account. Sea level rise on the one hand, flooding from inland, we are going to get all that, in addition to drought and the like. We also have to make sure that we can’t just keep the economy on the coast , but also strengthen it.”

The manifesto is now sent to the Flemish government, the coastal mayors, the province and all authorities involved in spatial planning by the sea.