Since the 1960’s, the Gold Coast has been the location of a series of coastal engineering works designed to maintain both public and private values of the shoreline. In maintaining recreational amenity whilst simultaneously protecting property, the cities coastal engineers have so far avoided the fabled seawall conundrum whereby building a seawall must result in the loss of a beach. The secret to breaking the conundrum is money and lots of it, each year tens of millions of dollars are spent by governments pumping sand around Gold Coast beaches.

This study has examined the drivers and dynamics of the construction of coastal protection on the Gold Coast through a series of case studies. Data for the study was collected through semi-structured interviews, a historical review of media and policy and participant observation. Data was analysed inductively using grounded theory method with further work towards the completion of the thesis ongoing.

Not withstanding some unique characteristics, the drivers and dynamics of coastal protection on the Gold Coast provide significant insights for Australian coastal settlements considering the practicalities of rising sea levels. Given the level of community opposition and politicisation of planning mechanisms designed to facilitate retreat of settlements exposed to rising sea levels, many communities may soon find themselves paying significant attention to the meaning of coastal protection.