Integrated geospatial approach for environment-sensitive planning of coastal urban regions: A case study from the megacity of Mumbai, India

Abstract

Developing countries frequently encounter decision-making problems to achieve Integrated Coastal Management (ICM) throughout the development of coastal urban regions. Similarly, the prevailing Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) framework, the foundation of spatial environmental planning in Indian coastal regions, has shown limited effectiveness towards ICM enabled sustainable development in the past three decades. Therefore, efficient integrated geospatial approaches are required in such cases to synergize the coastal development and ecosystem services. In this work, Ideal Point (IP) based Coastal Area Index (IP-CAI) approach was developed to characterize coastal urban regions for rational allocation of coastal resources. The IP-CAI approach integrated decision and geospatial science for incorporating a geographical variation of physical coastal indicators in spatial planning. Further, experts' knowledge about the environmental sensitivity of physical coastal indicators toward coastal development was incorporated in the IP-CAI. The coastal megacity of Mumbai, India, was investigated to test and validate the IP-CAI approach for the quantitative characterization of coastal urban regions. The present study demonstrated the usefulness of IP-CAI in addressing a coastal region classification problem with a necessary scientific basis. The results, advantages, limitations, and implementation guidelines of IP-CAI are further discussed.