Abstract:
Maldivian paths for economic development have historically been constrained by the morphology of atoll
islands and the availability of material resources. These constraints are most evident when examining the
development of Male’, the Maldives’ capital and most populous island. Before the 1970s, Male’ was a rather
typical atoll island, consisting of accumulated rubble and sand with an underlying lagoonal reef (faro)
structure. Rising population and standard-of-living expectations in Male’ led to accelerated coral mining of
Male’s reefs in the 1970s and 80s for both landfill and construction material, extending the island’s land
surface across Male’s lagoon and reef flats, close to the edge of its underlying faro. This combination of mining
and fill degraded the island’s natural defenses against wave events, resulting in disastrous floods in April 1987
and the fortification of the coastline with seawalls shortly thereafter. The degree of degradation to natural
defenses and amount of investment in urban building stock have jointly locked Male’ into a ‘‘hard path’’ for
coastal resilience engineering, and both the damage patterns and response to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami
demonstrate that the Male’ model of development and degradation has spread to smaller Maldivian islands.
While hard measures have proven successful in preventing further damage, their expense has led to greater
interest in ‘‘soft path,’’ ecosystem-based resilience measures. The degree of local ecosystem damage, com-bined with high vulnerability to climate change and Male’s continued growth, means that such measures can
only be seen as supplements to heavier fortification in the future, including raised (Th. Vilufushi) or artificial
islands (Hulhumale’). The intersecting role hydrological stress on Maldivian groundwater has played in Male’s
development path is also discussed
