Socio-economic Development of the Coastal Regions of Europe in the Twenty-First Century

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of the current state and spatial dynamics of the main socio-economic processes in the coastal zone of the European subcontinent in the first decades of the twenty-first century. The variety of natural and socio-economic conditions, the resource base of the coastal zone and coastal waters make it necessary to conduct their zoning. The author uses the concept of coastal waters and coastal regions of Europe. The territorial delimitation of the coastal zone is based on the temporal parameters of transport accessibility within the daily cycle of one-shift use of vehicles. In accordance with these restrictions, the author analysed the main parameters of the socio-economic development of the coastal regions of Europe. The tendency of an accelerated, relative to the European Union as a whole, decline in the share in world GDP production (in PPP) of the “near” coastal zone (0–100 km from the coast) and, on the contrary, a more moderate dynamics of the decline in its share in the world population was revealed. This tendency testifies to the growing problems in the development of the “near” coastal zone, as well as to some weakening of the positive effect of the factor of the coastal position in the economic development of a group of highly developed European countries.