Archive:Impact of coastal maritime activities on the hinterland
- Data from March 2011, most recent data: Further Eurostat information, Main tables and Database.
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Maritime service (impact) areas1 account for 79 % of the population of the EU coastal regions2 (NUTS3) and cover 36 % of their surface area. However, as can be seen in Map 1, the share of the EU regional population living in maritime service areas was highly dispersed. The aim of this spatial analysis is to map the maritime service areas and to provide related sets of socio-economic data referring to surface area and population. This paper presents the method and data used during the study and the first outputs.
The outputs of this analysis will be used as part of the EU Integrated Maritime Policy3 to define a socio-economic profile of the EU coastal regions and to highlight the inland impact of maritime activities on different geographic scales.
Main statistical findings
Impact of maritime service areas on EU coastal regions
Basically, maritime service areas reflect the attractiveness and inland influence of the maritime activities located along the European coast. They affect more than 26 700 local administrative units (LAU2)4 in EU coastal regions, account for 79 % of their population and cover 36 % of the surface area of these regions, as shown in Table 1. The specific shapes of these areas especially bring out the type of impact of maritime activities within or beyond EU coastal regions. In particular, the outlines of the shapes can be highlighted and disseminated5 using geographic information system (GIS) tools. Moreover, the structural variables such as the number of LAUs affected and the percentage of the population or surface area covered by maritime service areas in EU coastal regions reflect the scale of this impact.
Furthermore, these background and structural data can then be introduced into classification or multifactorial analyses, in order to assess more accurately variables such as employment and value added generated by maritime activities in EU coastal regions on different geographic scales. The outputs can be used to study the scope of the EU Integrated Maritime Policy.
Calculating the maritime service areas
The analysis started by calculating and delineating the maritime service areas. The study applied spatial analysis tools using both geographical datasets and statistical information. The actual inputs for the spatial analysis consisted of specific points along the coastline, the design and characteristics of the transport network6, commuting time and a classification of maritime ports. These inputs were considered for the EU as a whole. The maritime service areas are the areas that can be reached within a given travelling time, starting from a location at the coast and using the existing transport network. Map 2 shows one case: the maritime service areas calculated and outlined along the coastline of North-West France.
From a geographical perspective, the maritime activities and interactions between the sea and coastal regions are linked to points on the coast. These are referred to as ‘focal points’7 and can take the form either of single points (e.g. ports) or of a sequence of points (e.g. sea resorts and coastal strip settlements). The analysis uses more than ten thousand focal points, including one thousand ports ranked by size and all the settlements located within one kilometre of the EU27 coast.
The commuting time reflects the attractiveness and impact of the focal points. A longer commuting time was applied for larger ports, assuming greater attractiveness and impact. Two travel time values were used, one for large ports and another for smaller ports and coastal settlements. The commuting times were taken from the EU Working Conditions Survey8.
Moreover, the road transport network and its characteristics take accessibility and topography into account.
Impact of maritime service areas in a specific surface area
The output of the spatial analysis can be used in two approaches, which cover several fields.
The first approach can be used for studying the impact or attractiveness of the surrounding ports and coastal settlements within a specific surface area, such as an LAU, a region, a country or another geographical level. As Map 2 shows, the first field of the output contains the shapes of maritime service areas. The delineation of the shapes may be used independently and take account of the administrative boundaries.
The second field of output is the structural indicator of population estimated for the territorial classification. First, the share of the population of each LAU living in the service areas was assumed to be equal to the percentage of the surface area of the LAU covered by the maritime service areas.
Based on this assumption, Map 3 shows both the percentages of the population and the area of the LAU that lie within the maritime service areas.
The next step compared the population living in the maritime service areas with the regional population (NUTS3). As Map 4 shows, more than 90 % of the population of the French coastal region of Finistère live in maritime service areas. Using the same method, the indicator can also be estimated for the set of EU coastal regions by country, as in Table 1, or at different levels of the territorial classification (NUTS).
The output of the analysis can be used to compare the delineation of the maritime service areas, the share of the population affected and the regional boundaries. As Map 5 shows, most of the population of the French region of Loire-Atlantique live in maritime service areas and the maritime service areas extend beyond that region. This is mainly due to the attractiveness of Nantes-Saint-Nazaire and the good transport network. However, in the adjacent French region of Morbihan the maritime service areas and the population affected extend along the coastline.
Lastly, the third field of output is the structural indicator of surface area. These indicators can be used independently to delineate the shape of the administrative boundaries. As Map 6 shows, in Denmark maritime service areas cover almost the entire country. However, some areas are still not covered and the image clearly shows that the maritime service areas are not entirely dependent on their proximity to the sea. At regional level, Map 7 shows that 68 % of the region of Vestjylland is covered by maritime service areas and as much as 98 % of the region of Østjylland.
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