A comprehensive strategy to tackle disadvantage in our coastal communities is urgently needed, according to a new report launched in Parliament today by Key Cities, the national cross-party network representing 25 urban centres across the UK.

On the Waterfront advocates for renewed focus and coherent strategies tailored to the unique needs of coastal communities, aimed at fostering economic resilience, social equity, and environmental stewardship.

Produced by the Key Cities Innovation Network – a collaboration with a dozen universities located in member cities – the report shows that following half a century of decline, Britain’s traditional coastal communities remain markedly disadvantaged compared to their inland counterparts in educational attainment, health outcomes and poverty, with inadequate infrastructure, underfunded schools, and heightened risks from floods and coastal erosion, with disparities still growing worse.

The research analysis was coordinated by the Centre for Coastal Communities at the University of Plymouth, with input from Southampton, Lincoln, Lancaster and Essex Universities. The report also presents direct input from local authorities as well as a range of perspectives from local stakeholders, from GPs to harbour masters, young ex-prisoners to art and nature activists, coordinated by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Key Cities.

Noting urgent calls to action over the last decade from a range of independent and official experts – from the New Economics Foundation to the Coastal Communities Alliance, the House of Lords Select Committee on Regeneration Seaside Towns and Communities to the Chief Medical Officer’s 2022 report on health in coastal communities – the report sets out a strategic framework of 28 recommendations for empowering, protecting, connecting and investing in ports and coastal communities to reposition them as engines of creativity and growth, offering significant potential for wider investment in their coastal areas and coastal hinterlands.

As a network that is home to some 12% of the UK’s urban population outside London and contributes over £150bn a year to the UK economy, Key Cities coastal members include Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole, Cumberland, Hull, Lancaster, Medway, Newport, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Southampton, and Sunderland, with many more closely linked with nearby coastal communities and ports.

The recommendations include:

• Engaging with coastal communities to explore innovation in co-designing, co-creating, and co-producing hyperlocal public services and place strategies for economic development and environmental protection.
• Coordinating policy and delivery across departmental responsibilities through a Cross-Departmental Task Force for coastal regions.
• In official statistics and research studies, adopting a definition of coastal communities that encompasses and does not exclude urban coastal areas – and including, where appropriate, those coastal communities which have been displaced to make way for development and removed from their historical proximity to and identification with the sea.
• Establishing long-term funding streams rather than relying on short-term, competitive grants to enable strategic development rather than piecemeal interventions.
• Reviewing the adverse impact of HM Treasury’s Green Book Land Value Uplift criteria with regard to coastal areas and other formulae used for funding allocation, to adequately reflect deprivation, disadvantage, and opportunity.

Cllr John Merry, Chair of Key Cities and Deputy City Mayor of Salford, says:

“The nature of many of our member cities is that while they have urban centres, they are inextricably connected with their surrounding area – the peri-urban, the rural, the coastal. Around half of our members have significant coastal areas and ports.

At Key Cities we learn from each other, and there are insights in this report that are valuable to all places that seek to create successful and sustainable futures in the face of deep-rooted barriers and challenges. The reality for many of our traditional communities on the coast is that older people are less well-served in health and care, younger people lack opportunities, and investment in their future is impeded by climate threats and outdated funding rules.

The coast can be a source of strength and inspiration underpinning our national renewal, but only if we confront its decline head on with a strategic approach to regeneration. This report offers a framework for doing so.”

Cllr Tudor Evans, Leader of Plymouth City Council and Key Cities Portfolio Holder for Ports and Coastal Communities, said:

“The economic potential of our regional ports and their crucial role in achieving net zero targets through FLOW and more carbon-efficient freight movement are undervalued.

The report advocates for renewed focus and coherent strategies tailored to the unique needs of coastal communities, aimed at fostering economic resilience, social equity, and environmental stewardship.

I fully endorse the recommendations it makes which are themed around empowerment, protection, connection, and investment as foundational strategies. I hope that it serves as a clarion call for our new Government to act swiftly.”

Prof. Shirley Congdon, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Bradford and Chair of Key Cities Innovation Network, said:

“This report presents a powerful case for urgent action, rooted in local experience and backed up by extensive evidence in a way that is easy for anyone to understand. It demonstrates the value of leveraging collaboration between policymakers and universities across the country through our Innovation Network.”

The report is available for download here.