CoastGis'99: geomatics and coastal environment
At present the theory of IC/M is well defined, but its practical application is much less developed. At the UK Centre for Social and Economic Research on the Global Environment (CSERGE), research is being
undertaken with specific aims of applying the theory and rhetoric of
ICZM to practical applications. The vvork recognizes that any system
constructed to aid the implementation of ICZM policies should be based
on high quality science, yet must also be able to be easily used by nontechnical experts, coastal managers, and policy makers. Hence, the
research centres around the production of an easy to use ICZM modelling
application coupled with a GIS database holding information on the
coastal environment. An evolutionary approach has been taken. This
initially entailed the construction of a prototype coastal management
system for Prospero Bay, an imaginary coastal zone containing a diverse
range of resources and associated resource conflicts. Based on the success
of this prototype, work is currently ongoing to construct a fully GISbased model for the real-world coastline of the region of East Anglia,
England. This chapter details the development of this research.
Prospero Bay
Figure 1
The geography
of Prospero Bay.
Prospero Bay is a prototype region with characteristics similar to those
of real-world coastal areas. It is designed to provide a realistic context
for demonstrating the advantages of integrated management over the
single issue approach. Although somewhat simplified, the prototype
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