Second CFP
2010 Annual International Conference of the RGS-IBG; 1-3 Sept 2010; London.
Social and Cultural Geographies of Rural and Urban Coasts
Organisers
Kim Ward Owain Jones
University of Exeter Countryside and Community Research Institute
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Sponsored by:
Urban Geography Research Group (UGRG)
Social and Cultural Research Group (SCRG)
Coastal and Marine Working Group (CMWG)
Abstract
The coast presents human (and non human) communities with all manner of fundamental challenges, physical, social, cultural and economic. It is where the land stops and the seas and oceans start. An obvious point - but one of great significance for terrestrial beings for whom water is an alien element. The success of the BBC television series Coast attests to the cultural fascination that coastlines attract. Geography has long focused on the coast in terms of physical systems, but due to the rural urban split which often exits in human geography, the coast as a vital spatial characteristic can become lost, along with and examination of the social and cultural implications of coastal life.
The UK Government currently has no specific policy for coastal towns, deciding that they are too diverse to implement such a strategy. Yet the House of Commons Coastal Town report (2006/7) notes seven key characteristics shared by many coastal towns across the country- “their physical isolation, deprivation levels, the inward migration of older people, the high levels of transience, the outward migration of young people, poor quality housing and the nature of the coastal economy” (p3). Therefore it is vital to develop a new focus in Geography to examine a social, economic and cultural geography of ‘the Coast’ if we are to fully understands coastal life. In this respect, research examining coastal regeneration, deprivation and marginalized communities as well as senses of place, landscape and subjectivity are vital to a holistic geography of ‘the Coast’. Also important- and seemingly inevitable- is the context of climate change, including potentially devastating sea level rises and effects to the physical environment, tourism, housing, and coastal communities in general.
We seek papers on any aspect of social, economic and cultural geographies of the Coast (both rural and urban) in the UK and internationally. We also invite papers which seek to address interactions between social and physical processes in coastal areas.
Abstracts and expressions of interest to:
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We need abstracts of no more than 300 words by the end of January so we can sort out the session and submit it to the conference by the 22 February 2010 deadline.
Thank you
Kim