Management of coastal erosion

Coastlines are the most important and intensely used of all areas settled by humans. Many countries show above-average concentrations of population near the coast and two-thirds of the world’s largest cities are located on coasts (Figure 11.1). Presently, almost 40% of the world’s human population live within 100 km of the coast (Cohen et al., 1997), but because many coastal populations are expanding faster than national populations, it is estimated that up to 75% of the world’s population could be living within 60 km of the shoreline by 2020 (Edgren, 1993). Finally, Nichols and Mimura Figure 11.1 – Global distribution of ‘world cities’.