ShoreScape: A landscape approach to the natural adaptation of urbanized sandy shores

Sandy shores around the world suffer from coastal erosion due to land subsidence, a lack of sediment input and sea level rise. This often leads to the construction of hard structures, such as sea walls and breakwaters, that consolidate the coastal zone but disrupt the dynamic system of coastal deltas. To compensate for coastal erosion in a more natural and systemic way, sand nourishments are now increasingly executed. This so-called ‘Building with Nature’ (BwN) technique uses natural resources and dynamics to restore sediment balance within coastal zones and promote coastal regeneration and dune formation. These dynamic nourishment techniques are still in development, placing new demands on coastal spatial planning. How can we position and tune these nourishment dynamics for land formation; not only to optimize coastal safety but also to integrate these dynamics with the ecological and urban functions of the coastal landscape? An integrated design approach is necessary to guide both land-shaping processes and adaptive urban and ecological configurations to support BwN-based dune-formation following nourishment and boost the buffer capacity of coastal zones.

This research aims to develop design principles for integral coastal landscapes that connect geomorphological processes, ecology and adaptive urban design to exploit their potential for the spatial development of multi-functional coastal landscapes— shore-scapes. It focuses on coastal configurations featuring pro-active sediment management through aeolian BwN techniques to build up the coastal buffer in a natural and multifunctional way.

The first step was to reframe BwN nourishment design as a landscape approach, employing natural onshore dynamics to sustain the coastal buffer and increase the multiplicity of the coastal landscape. The coastal landscape can be regarded as the result of the interaction between the geomorphological, ecological and urban system, in response to sea level rise. The mapping of their interactions (via literature review, fieldwork, GIS and CFD-modelling), identified three potential spatial mechanisms to support nature-based dune formation following nourishment: natural succession, dune farming and urban harvesting. To activate these processes for coastal reinforcement and landscaping, and bridge the spatial and time scales involved, three subsequent tools for dynamic design were defined: morphogenesis, dynamic profiling and aeolian design principles.

In the second half of the research, the BwN landscape approach and principles were contextualized and tested across four case studies, which revealed how coastal system’s characteristics and nourishment strategy affect dune formation. Responding to various nourishment and urban conditions, spatial arrangements were composed that enhance the aeolian build-up of coastal profiles and landscapes over time, supporting dune reinforcement, multifunctionality and
landscape differentiation.

The outcome of this research is threefold. First, BwN was redefined as a landscape approach that employs intersystemic land-shaping processes to support coastal safety, multifunctionality and spatial quality. Second, a set of validated design principles was developed for natural aeolian coastal adaptation following nourishment. Third, spatial arrangements were composed to illustrate how BwN processes ashore can be guided in space and time across various nourishment and urban contexts.