Assessment methods for urban beaches frequentation: Application to the Nice waterfront

Sophie Liziard

Department of Geography, University of Nice - Sophia Antipolis, (FR)

Beach management raises high stakes for waterfront management, especially in tourism oriented towns. Indeed, those beaches experience a strong human pressure with a multitude of uses. Local authorities have to satisfy both this social request for access to the shore and an institutional, economical and environmental obligation of littoral protection. In this way, beach management deals with different issues: ecological, social, cultural, economical and landscape aspects, which must be all considered for integrate management policies.

Beaches management is linked to their frequentation level: the knowledge of the visitors number constitutes a prerequisite to improve interventions on the territory, keeping in mind the actual needs of the users.
Thus, my research study proposes to explore methods for monitoring the frequentation of the urban beaches in order to make available to the beach managers relevant information. In these methods, beach must be considered in its context. Indeed, beach frequentation changes with the different temporalities and places, and the town have different effects on it. Developing space-time indicators of beaches activity implies understanding the functioning of beach and in particular its interactions with the surroundings. Urban beaches are complex geographical objects. Thanks to a systemic approach and the use of several scales, it becomes possible to organize the knowledge about beach practises and frequentations through models. The application to the Nice waterfront is relevant because the beach is very integrated to the town: besides the capital tourist function, this beach has a common use of relaxation for the inhabitants.

The outcome of this research is to provide assessment tools and data supporting the decision making of the authorities in charge, so that their actions is facilitated and justified (as well for tasks like maintenance, cleaning, security, as for adjustment of the promotion and tourism development policy on the seacoast). Applications and considering related to the charge capacities and the sustainable development of the beaches in seaside resorts appear likewise as prospects opened by this research.