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John D. Kasarda: Airport to Aerotropolis
"Within two years, it is highly likely that people and cargo will be moving in and out of airports in greater numbers than before Sept. 11," he said. Even with the events of Sept. 11 and the global recession, the trend toward air commerce is irreversible, Kasarda said. Forty percent of the value of world trade already goes by air.
"Speed and agility have become so critical to the new economy that air commerce is quickly becoming its logistical backbone," he said. Last summer, The International Air Cargo Association approached the Kenan Institute and its affiliated Foundation for Transportation, Trade and Commerce about developing a joint research center, the Center for Air Commerce Studies. The Center will focus on the research and educational needs of a growing industry during a period of radical change and expansion. The issues of passenger travel and transport of goods and services are becoming so important that Kasarda calls the 21st century "the aviation century." Airports will shape business location and urban development in this century as much as highways did in the 20th, railroads in the 19th and seaports in the 18th centuries, he said. Major international gateway airports are giving rise to an emerging urban form that Kasarda calls the "aerotropolis." The aerotropolis can stretch up to 15 miles outward from airports along transportation corridors that radiate from them. Airports can attract various types of business development including time-sensitive manufacturing, e-commerce fulfillment, telecommunications and third-party logistics firms; entertainment, hotel, retail and exhibition complexes; and office buildings that house regional corporate headquarters and air-travel intensive professionals such as consultants, auditors and high-tech industry executives. Some airports have even assumed the same roles as metropolitan central business districts by becoming major employment, shopping, meeting and entertainment destinations. An example is Amsterdam's Schiphol, which employs 52,000 people daily. Two main motorways link the airport to downtown Amsterdam, a modern train station operates directly under the terminal, and the terminal itself contains shopping and entertainment opportunities that appeal to both travelers and the general public. Strings of businesses are clustered along Schiphol's motorways; all of the businesses are airport-intensive users. According to Kasarda, to many, this new urban form will appear simply as additional sprawl along main airport transportation corridors. Yet, the aerotropolis is actually a highly networked system. In short, he said, accessibility will replace location as the most important business-location and commercial-real estate organizing principle. "Corporate and real estate professionals who understand this fact can select strategic sites near major gateway airports and position investment to be leveraged by air commerce," Kasarda said. "As more and more companies depend on time-intensive transportation and quick response, those who choose to locate near airports will be one step ahead of their competitors in the fast century." Web Links to Articles: More info:
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f you've been a passenger on an airline recently, exposed to longer lines and increased security, the outlook for the airline industry might appear bleak. But that's in the short term, according to industry expert John D. Kasarda, a management professor and director of the School's Kenan Institute, an innovative think-and-do tank that finds creative solutions to private and public sector problems.
