The Shoreline between Nature and Society, a Changing Heritage - Vulnerability of Coastal Ecosystems and Adaptation - page 203

5.4.3. The slow development of a centralized concept of coastal
planning
France shifted, in a period of about 40 years, from a state-controlled
and centralized concept of what we term “coastal planning” toward an
allegedly (but not truly) decentralized policy of coastal management
[MER 09, MIO 99]. Beyond the ambiguity of the vocabulary used,
these are actually two different approaches to territorial planning. The
first, traditionally Anglo-Saxon and in particular American, advocates
that within a federal State, coastal States should be able to legitimately
implement their own policies, which are de facto “decentralized”; and
on the other hand, it preconizes an approach relying on the long-
established national construction and on true mistrust toward its techno-
bureaucratic elites when it comes to local practice, and which considers
that steering and impulsion should come from the top. It is the French
“top-down” against the American “bottom-up” approaches. In reality,
things are not as black and white as described and policies end up
converging with the overarching aim of a more sustainable management
of the environment and of marine and coastal resources.
Coastal planning is inseparable from territorial planning in France,
of which it is only a marginal part. It encompasses the assertion of
power of the State after World War II, and more especially after 1958
when DATAR (French Department for Territorial Planning and
Regional Action) was created, this devolution of territorial planning to
the regions, whose numerous title changes in the last decade say more
than any discourse about the uncertainty that revolves around
planning. Starting with the State, it therefore often embodies a royal
vision, steered from the top and, to a certain extent, indifferent to
regional cultures and to the concerns of local populations. Its aim is to
develop economically by choosing functions that are likely to have a
ripple effect that could nevertheless be controlled.
Coastal management of the coast of Languedoc-Roussillon is the
best example of such a process. It was carried out as part of an
interministerial mission, known as the “Racine Mission” after the
name of the high officer who was in charge of the mission (Decree of
June 18 1963). The mission had several objectives. First of all, it was
to structure the coastline of Languedoc in order to attract tourists,