Tides of Change: Arguments for Sustainable Coastal High Rise

Coastlines in urban areas are under considerable pressure to accommodate higher residential densities and facilities serving the broader community. Recent proposals by developers, in response to market demand, have galvanised local coastal communities to oppose most attempts to significantly increase residential densities. This has subsequently been politicised at the state and local authority levels.
According to coastal dwellers, the issue with increasing densities is higher buildings and more traffic. The result is loss of the amenity afforded by the coastal location, which ultimately has a negative affect on property values.
This paper addresses the comparative economic value of coastal amenity from a sample of coastal locations in Perth. The methodology employed is hedonic pricing, which ascribes monetary values to resources or services not transacted in the marketplace. In this instance, it will be used to determine how the coastal residential marketplace is influenced by coastal amenity.
It will be argued that market depreciation as a result of increased densities is based on fallacious reasoning and coasts and beaches can be developed in a sustainable manner as liveable neighbourhoods, as well as regional recreation and economic resources to be enjoyed by the whole community. Finally, the paper contends that equity has become the real loser in the debate and that the NIMBY syndrome is alive and well along the metropolitan coast.