Aerotropolis : A Futuristic Urban Revolution Taking Flight in the Future
In a fast-paced landscape, the airports are not static, and they are constantly evolving in form and function. Traditionally, airports have been understood as places where airplanes operate, including runways, control towers, hangers, terminals, and other facilities serving passengers, cargo, and aircrafts. However, a new and much broader concept is emerging known as the ‘Airport city’, which has been becoming the way forward for many airports
Aerotropolis is a metropolitan area developed close to the airport as its centre. It involves the development of an airport-based city, with air travel at its core, surrounded by commercial, hospitality, entertainment, educational, and healthcare centres. Aerotropolis is the fusing of the word’s aviation and metropolis. Its commercial section includes clusters of aviation-oriented businesses, essentially concurring with courier and transport companies such as FedEx. It has been linked to increased international globalisation and trade. Frederick W. Smith, CEO of FedEx corporation said, “The biggest economy today is the economy of international trade”
· Airport city model has developed non-aeronautical facilities providing multiple revenue streams
· They have become key nodes of global production systems, offering speed, agility, and connectivity
· Warehouses, distribution, and logistics companies are located closer to airports to reduce distance from the place of manufacturing and the location of transport
· Aviation linked businesses include time-sensitive manufacturing and distribution facilities, retail, and the eco-friendly tourism industry
· Advantages of Aerotropolis
Growth of Businesses– Aerotropolis acts as a connectivity point for suppliers, business partners and customers. Development of commercial office spaces in the aerotropolis ensures faster and more efficient transactions and would reduce significant costs of logistics for businesses. Businesses could also avail benefits of economies of scale provided by the storage facilities and cargo centres
Tourism Development– Recreational centres such as shopping malls, cultural centres such as museums, hotels, spas, and entertainment centres. The attractive aerotropolis infrastructure attracts tourists from both within the country and abroad
Employment Generation– Development of a complex airport-based metropolitan city opens up various commercial and hospitality avenues, encouraging many companies to invest in this elaborate platform, opening many jobs in the commercial sales, hospitality, management, logistics and entertainment sectors
Development of state-of-the-art infrastructure– Aerotropolis promotes the growth of art technology. These well developed and futuristic spaces attract many businesses and investors seeking to profit from the venture
Construction of the world’s largest airport
Dubai is not only building the world’s largest airport but a city around the airport. When completed, Dubai South will be home to 900,000 inhabitants. When completed, it will have a handling capacity of 200 million passengers annually. The airports will be reachable within 8 hours of flight to two-thirds of the world’s population, aiming to strengthen its position as a trade and logistics centre
Conclusion
Globalisation is pushing countries towards the adoption of the Aerotopolis model, it being the link to be connected to the global market with speed and efficiency. It has allowed commercial businesses to optimize their expenses by reducing their transportation costs and benefiting from economies of scale.
Critics of the concept point out whether oil will remain relatively inexpensive and widely available in the future or whether a downturn in global oil production will adversely affect aviation and thus the aerotropolis. Others have criticized the overstatement of dependence on air travel, stating that though high-value electronics are shipped via air, bulkier items are not shipped through air travel.
However, development of this model will create state of the art infrastructure, employment and faster connectivity to the world and create commercial business opportunities to compete on foreign soil.