Managing Nice waterfront : beach, promenade and coastal path

Arnaud Bonnin, Patrick Ceruti

Direction Environnement, Mer et Littoral, Ville de Nice (FR)

Nice waterfront is very famous throughout the world. A major part of it is managed by Nice Municipality (Ville de Nice) through its Sea and Littoral Service, under the Environment, Sea and Littoral Department. The remaining part of this waterfront, which is not open to the public, is managed by the Port of Nice authority and the Nice Côte d'Azur Airport authority.

This presentation deals with the activities of the Sea and Littoral Service of the Environment, Sea and Littoral Department. In accordance with the law, the city of Nice is in charge of the beach management (maintenance, protection against erosion, commercial concessions, etc.), the security related to nautical activities, the cleaning of sea bottoms in the vicinity of the beach, the management of a small port (Carras) and the development and management of a coastal path.

The beach of Nice is 5 km long. It is made of pebbles and needs regular artificial feeding, because of the negative sedimentary balance resulting from both the developments on the coast and the transformation of the watersheds in the hinterland. During summer time, it is visited by an average of 20 000 persons a day. Many activities take place on this beach, which requires a strong management to prevent accidents and conflicts.

The Carras harbour is a small port of very local importance. It is used by a few fishermen, sports unions, etc. from the neighbourhood of Carras. The city of Nice has planned to transform the old structure into a new one.

On the eastern part of Nice, the coastal path is being built to connect Nice to Villefranche-sur-Mer. This is part of the Provincial plan to improve pedestrian access to the shore, in accordance with the law of 1976. It is also a tool to promote coastal and marine environment through information boards.

This presentation will be given in two parts : an oral "academic" presentation and a field visit on site.