Environmental spatial planning of urban coastal regions is critical for
sustainable development and designing of coastal resilience in
developing countries. The process of environmental spatial planning in
coastal regions involves classification of areas into different
categories by retaining the synergy between environmental conservation
and urban development. Existing coastal regulations for classification
of coastal regions in India are based on the subjective approaches. In
this study, a quantitative approach is developed by coupling geospatial
science and multicriteria decision making in which we prioritized the
different physical coastal features quantitatively based on the
environmental sensitivity of particular physical coastal feature for the
integrated natural coastal ecosystem. Afterwards, these quantitative
ranking values of coastal features are combined with linear weighting
schemes to derive distinct categories of urban coastal regions
spatially, where each category embodies the unique environmental
sensitivity. A final map indicating the environmental sensitivity of
different coastal regions is prepared. Uncertainty analysis for
different weighting schemes was performed to assess the robustness of
the developed approach. Finally, we carried out a comparative assessment
of the prevailing method of coastal area classification being used by
planning authorities and the application of this quantitative approach
along the coast of Mumbai, India. Results of comparison clearly
demonstrate the effectiveness of the quantitative approach for
environmental spatial planning in urban coastal regions. Essentially,
the method is found useful for highlighting the locations which need
special consideration by planning authorities for the application of
inclusive coastal management measures. Furthermore, this approach is
modular and scalable, which will facilitate the environmental spatial
planning of urban coastal regions based on scientific principles in
different coastal cities in developing countries.