Re-thinking our coastal towns and cities
A view of Cromer in North Norfolk | Credit: Adobe.
Professor William Powrie, Convenor
| UKCRIC
Living in coastal areas should be an attractive proposition, bringing fresh air and easy access to nature and areas of natural beauty. Coastal towns and cities are also vital contributors to economic resilience, sustainability and growth. Some are destinations in their own right; others act as vital international gateways for people, goods and energy. In a major contribution to the nation’s Net Zero 2050 targets, coastal areas generate more renewable energy than the national average.
However, the reality is often different. Despite the potential benefits of a coastal location, many port and coastal towns and cities can appear neglected and to underperform in both economic and social wellbeing terms. Common contributory factors include a paucity of employment opportunities, a low-quality built environment, derelict industrial and other legacy sites, the decline in traditional tourism and poor connectivity to the waterfront. Rising sea levels and coastal erosion also pose potentially existential threats. These issues are common around the UK, transcending simplistic north/south or east/west divisions.
To combat all this needs innovation in terms of rethinking and making our port and coastal towns and cities more resilient. Crucially, it requires engagement with communities, policymakers, the public sector, researchers and business to ensure solutions deliver benefits for everyone.
Nationally-important infrastructure should bring local as well as national benefits, but too often the local impacts are mainly negative. For example, transport both to/from and along the coast is essential to economic survival and human wellbeing but comes with the risk of the associated infrastructure severing the connection with the coast and isolating neighbourhoods. Similarly, civil engineering works for coastal defence can cut communities off from the sea and damage the natural environment. Major infrastructure such as ports and gas terminals might bring wider societal benefit but blight the areas in which they are located.
In 2022 the infrastructure for Port cities And Coastal Towns network (iPACT) was established to identify people-focused, infrastructure-based solutions to the complex problem of improving social well-being and prosperity in coastal communities through resilient and sustainable regeneration; with a key emphasis on taking advantage of the coastal location.
The network has an increasing number of university collaborators including the University of Southampton, University of Strathclyde, Lancaster University, Queens University Belfast, University of East Anglia and University of Brighton. Key project partners also include Southampton City Council, Lancaster City Council, Eden North and Coastal Partnership East (a partnership of North Norfolk District Council, Great Yarmouth Borough Council, Waveney District Council and Suffolk Coastal District Council).
Areas of Southampton, North Norfolk and Morecambe encapsulate the issues faced by the spectrum of port and coastal towns and cities, including juxtaposition with major international ports, declining seaside resorts and historic communities with an ageing population facing coastal erosion and sea-level rise. Case studies undertaken by the IPACT network in areas of Southampton, North Norfolk and Morecambe are addressing themes of connectivity with the coast, inclusive infrastructure, maintaining and enhancing resilience, coastal region transport and nature-inspired, human scale engineering.
Through a series of activities including community consultations, location-based research workshops, and six funded pilot projects, the iPACT Network has brought these challenges into sharper focus and launched a number of feasibility studies to explore potential solutions.
Our consultations across the three case study locations showed that while local community participants were aware of the context of climate change and rising energy costs, they had more concerns about governance and socio-economic infrastructures than concerns about bridges or protection from the sea. Transportation problems were mentioned but seen primarily steeped in governance (regulation) weaknesses. All three areas showed desire for step changes in platforms capable of enabling local communities to coordinate and support their own solutions.
The iPACT Network is established as a thriving, collaborative research and user community, with the potential to develop and help implement sustainable infrastructure solutions that will improve the wellbeing, resilience and sustainability of the UK’s coastal settlements for decades to come.
Influence the debate and collaborate
On 28 January 2025, iPACT will be hosting a showcase event, taking place from 12-6pm at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, One Birdcage Walk, London. This will be an opportunity to discuss the challenges facing coastal communities and port cities and to hear from the six funded pilot projects that are exploring and assessing potential solutions aligned with community needs.
Our aim is to connect coastal communities, disseminate knowledge and create opportunities for further project development to improve the wellbeing, resilience and sustainability of the UK’s coastal settlements. We welcome all parliamentarians representing coastal communities as well as policy makers who share a passion for enabling our coastal towns and ports to be more thriving, prosperous and resilient places to live. Please join the discussion, help us expand the network and explore further opportunities for collaboration.
William Powrie is Professor of Geotechnical Engineering at the University of Southampton and Lead Researcher on iPACT. He is also Convenor of the UK Collaboratorium for Research on Infrastructure and Cities (UKCRIC).
Register for the Infrastructure for Port Cities And Coastal Towns network - Showcase event.
Visit the iPACT website to find out more.
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