Integrated coastal-zone management for sustainable tourism using a decision support system based on system dynamics: A case study of Cijin, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

Kaohsiung is the largest port city in Taiwan, where the offshore island of Cijin forms a natural breakwater for the Kaohsiung harbor. With its abundant recreational resources and convenient accessibility, the small island of Cijin attracts many tourists during weekends. Although the highly developed tourism has led to significant economic benefits, it has also caused pollution and unbalanced development, which have severely degraded the coastal environment and marine ecosystem. By using the System Dynamics (SD) approach, we developed an effective integrated coastal zone management Decision Support System (DSS) to address this problem. A SD model, based on the driving-force, state, and response indicator set, was employed to enable integration of the numerous interlinked factors causing this problem. A user-friendly DSS based on the SD model was implemented using the STELLA software. This DSS enables decision makers to perform scenario analysis easily by allowing them to incorporate their decision preferences. Several policies were developed in this study and the DSS was used to assess their performance regarding the sustainable development of coastal tourism in Cijin.