Urban settlements on the coast present a complex and dynamic set of physical, social and economic issues for policy makers concerned with environmental quality and crime reduction. During 2015, the research partnership members will conduct a comparative scoping study of best practice in the governance of environmental quality and crime reduction in urban coastal communities located in the North Coast region of São Paulo State and in South Wales, UK. This will enable the Brazilian and UK partners to study specific issues, policy contexts and policy communities of both countries in respect of environmental quality and crime reduction and identify priority research topics. In both case study areas there has been rapid and significant change in economic activity leading to a convergence of urban transformation problems that are similar in nature, but are different in magnitude. From the mid-20th century, both locales have seen a rapid decline of previously thriving maritime ports serving traditional, local, production in agriculture and fishing (North Coast) and coal and steel (South Wales). Consequently, the economic base of both locations has shifted towards a combination of developments in the energy industry alongside a transition from a production to a consumption and service industries-based economy. Central to the service economy, in both UK and Brazilian locales, is an increasing dependency on tourism and leisure, and a consequent growth in the creation of new tourism spaces. Admittedly, the pace of socio-economic change is much more marked on the coast of São Paulo State than in South Wales, but the economic and social dynamics are similar in both locales. Legislation to protect the environment is enforced by the activities of a range of state agencies, private sector security agents, and voluntary groups that support the state and federal police. The complexities of such "plural policing" in both the built and rural environments, in and around urban communities, require a sophisticated and robust governance response. The governance model in respect of environmental quality in Wales offers Brazil a distinctive UK comparator. Natural Resources Wales is unique in the UK as it offers a single agency approach that seeks to manage air, land and water sustainably. In respect of crime reduction, the risk-based 'preventative turn' in criminal justice and policing has been a policy influence in attempts to reduce crime and to create safe communities in both locales. In South Wales there are mature structures of governance concerned with crime prevention and reduction. In Brazil comparator agencies include the Brazilian Institute of Environment and renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA), which formulates, coordinates, supervises, manages, promotes and enforces the preservation and conservation of natural resources.