Human clustering in coastal areas The coastal zone has gained a solid reputation as a place vocated for recreational activities and this is generally related to the presence of the sea. The relationship, however, does not appear univocal or simple: the sea can be perceived as a hostile element by humans and the more general question of whether the presence of the shore is in itself a favourable, repulsive, or irrelevant factor to settlement is a debatable point, at least for pre-industrial societies. Back in the early part of the 19th century, Friedrich Hegel regarded oceans and rivers as unifying elements rather than dividing ones, thus implying a trend towards the concentration of human settlements along them. 'The sea', he wrote, 'stimulates 1 courage and conquest, as well as profit and plunder', although he realized that this did not equally apply to all maritime peoples. In Hegel's view, different approaches to the sea were mainly the results of cultural factors and, in fact, he recognized that some people living in coastal areas perceive the sea as a dangerous and alien place and the shore as aftnis terrae.

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Section I: Regional Studies.- 1. The recreational use and abuse of the coastline of Florida.- 2. Management strategies for coastal conservation in South Wales, U.K..- 3. Recreational uses and problems of Port Phillip Bay, Australia.- 4. Recreation in the coastal areas of Singapore.- 5. The Azov Sea coast as a recreational area.- 6. The influence of ethnicity on recreational uses of coastal areas in Guyana.- 7. Recreational uses in the coastal zone of central Chile.- 8. Recreational uses of Québec coastlines.- Section II: Coastal Recreation in Adverse Environments.- 9. Recreational use of the Washington State coast.- 10. Pacific coast recreational patterns and activities in Canada.- 11. The recreational use of the Norwegian coast.- 12. Patterns and impacts of coastal recreation along the Gulf coast of Mexico.- 13. Wetlands recreation: Louisiana style.- 14. The natural features of the Caspian Sea western coasts in the context of their prospective recreational use.- Section III: Planning for Recreation.- 15. Construction of a recreational beach using the original coastal morphology, Koege Bay, Denmark.- 16. Tourist planning along the coast of Aquitaine, France.- 17. Sydney's southern surfing beaches: characteristics and hazards.- 18. Twenty five years of development along the Israeli Mediterranen coast: goals and achievements.- 19. Differential response of six beaches at Point Pelee (Ontario) to variable levels of recreational use.- 20. Anthropogenic effects on recreational beaches.- 21. Formulating policies using visitor perceptions of Biscayne National Park and seashore.- Section IV: Miscellaneous.- 22. Marine recreation in North America.- 23. Beach resort morphology in England and Australia: a review and extension.