What kind of coast do you like to visit—wild and empty or buzzing and built-up? In Traveler magazine's September 2002 issue, Geotourism Editor Jonathan Tourtellot points out that much of America's eastern shoreline is disappearing under sprawling development. On the Outer Banks of North Carolina, for instance, the thick parade of beach houses seems endless, broken only where parkland or refuge intervenes. Other shorelines around the world—Mexico, the Mediterranean, Brazil, Thailand—are seeing similar construction booms.

Zoning for density of development—open space and low-density here; high-density and high-rise hotels there—might prevent sprawl, but many a waterfront landowner resists "being told what to do with my land." Also, low-density zoning smacks of elitism; in most areas, only the rich can afford an acre of waterfront.

This month we ask: Should the world’s seashores be zoned to control sprawl?

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