Beside the seaside: Vertical dis-integration, demographic imbalance and adaptation in UK coastal communities

Coastal communities are socially and culturally integral to the UK, yet often areas of enduring economic deprivation underpinned by geographic peripherality and structural under-investment. Against this general profile, certain coastal communities have maintained stable economies. This chapter focuses on the cases of Worthing and Poole, in the south of England. It explores the adaptation of these economies considering enduring structural challenges, including the disinvestment of key employers and rapid emergence of a disproportionately ageing population. It argues these places have founded success on evolving forms of inward investment, with a critical role played by the state in aiding imported demand and implementing change mechanisms.