Mediterranean Coastal Land-Use Change

Project description

In 2017, an assessment of historical changes in built-up areas along the coasts of Mediterranean countries was conducted for the period 1975–2015. This study contributed to the 2017 Quality Status Report (QSR) and served as a foundation for IMAP Indicator 25 on land-use change within the Integrated Monitoring and Assessment Programme (IMAP) for the Mediterranean Sea and Coast. It has also been referenced in various other environmental reports under the UNEP/MAP framework.

In 2025, this assessment will be updated to extend the time series to 2025 and enhance data robustness. The updated analysis will use expanded historical data on built-up areas and revised subnational administrative boundaries, providing a completer and more harmonized regional overview. The results will support the development and revision of national Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) strategies, as well as regional policy planning, monitoring efforts, and future QSRs.

The update will follow the original methodology and cover all Mediterranean coastlines in three progressive steps: complete coastlines (mainland and islands), mainland plus inhabited islands, and mainland only. Key tasks include: collecting and pre-processing geospatial and statistical data, harmonizing geographic boundaries, calculating coastline length, coastal area, built-up area percentages, and land take at subnational and regional levels, analyzing various coastal belt widths (150 m, 1 km, 10 km) over multiple periods (1975, 1990, 2000, 2015, 2025), uploading data to MapX or similar platforms, and producing a technical report with maps, graphs, and trend interpretations.