Aerotropolis: Situating the 21st century utopia PASSENGER

YOU
Edbert Cheng DESTINATION
Professor David Moon PRESENT > UNKNOWN UTOPIA

FLIGHT NUMBER
BOEING 878

ZONE GATE
INTERNATIONAL A2

DEPARTURE TIME
BOARDING NOW

A E R OT R O P O L I S P R O G E NY O F P R O G RA M
 FIRST AEROTROPOLIS: POPULAR SCIENCE, NOV 1939

Air itinerary
WELCOME TO AEROTROPOLIS
The first documented use of the word Aerotropolis is found in
a 1939 issue of Popular Science. In it, New York artist Nicholas
DeSantis details a skyscraper rooftop airport in Manhattan.
He proposes a 200-story building eight blocks long and
three city blocks wide. Airships and airplane hangars occupy
the top fifty floors, with a vast runway network on the roof.

HISTORY OF THE AIRPORT

RISE OF THE AERTROPOLIS

UTOPIA AND THE AIRPORT

PERILS AND PITFALLS

CASE STUDIES: UTOPIA UNFOLDING

SITUATING UTOPIA

BIBLIOGRAPHY

A E R OT R O P O L I S WELCOME
WELCOME TO AEROTROPOLIS

Air travel is a ubiquitous part of life in the twenty-first century; as such, airports
are a universal architecture that a majority of the developed world experience.
With their soaring ceilings, complex flight controls, and global logistics, airports are
emblematic of contemporary societys desire for openness, speed, and connectivity;
due to its centrality to modern society, acclaimed author Alain De Botton even
calls the airport the imaginative center of our civilization (Week at the Airport).

Over the last few decades, air travel satisfaction have risen dramatically (Kasarda),
due in great part to improved airport designs around the world. More than just
transitional waiting zones between land and plane, airports today have morphed
into mixed-used complexes hosting numerous venues, such as shopping malls,
upscale restaurants, art venues, and even butterfly gardens (Kasarda). Fueled
by globalization and international trade, airports have become metropolises on
their own right, with independent food distribution, transportation networks, and OPENFLIGHT ROUTE MAPPER | 2012
governing bodies (Kasarda). Due to their vast scale and demographic, airports HONG KONG INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
have also become integral to a city or countrys economic development; Heathrow
airport, for instance, employs more people than the entirety of Oxford (Edwards).

As airports become more integral to global commerce, and cities rely on them
more to drive economic growth, it is entirely conceivable that the airport city
-- the aerotropolis - will overtake the traditional city in influence and importance.
When that happens, architects and planners will have the opportunity to imagine
new ways of living and traveling: a new utopia in the aerotropolis. If designed
well, airport cities may bring economic growth and improve human well-being;
executed poorly, the aerotropolis may produce more sterile living environments
and foster environmental catastrophe. Regardless, as total architecture that
embody all the needs of its users, airport cities are poised to drive urbanization
in the future and become the new urban utopia, with all its perils and promises.

A E R OT R O P O L I S P R O G E NY O F P R O G RA M
Milan Central Station, 1931 Kitty Hawk, 1903
EVOLUTION OF AIRPORT ARCHITECTURE
To unpack the rise and trajectory of the airport city, it is important to understand the
history of the airport itself. From its beginning as a humble airfield to its growth as megafloat
islands, the airport is a dynamic building type that has evolved throughout the twentieth
century. According to Nicholas Pevsners History of Building Types, the contemporary
airport is essentially a postscript of the nineteenth century railway station, as a significant
transportation building. However, due to its unique ability to grow over time and adapt to
the changing program functions, many writers now broadly consider airports as a typology
in its own right, a purely twentieth century innovation (Edwards). Airports, however, did not
gain its impressive scale and influence overnight, but rather accumulated complexity and
diversity over decades. Considering the overarching lineage of the building type, the history
of airport architecture can be separated into three formal phases: field, shed, and landform.
A E R OT R O P O L I S
Port-Aviation, Juvisy, 1908 Lyons Airport, 1920s Liverpool Speke, 1938
Phase I: Field (1903-WWII)
For the first half of the twentieth century, airports were simple, often makeshift
places that showcased the spectacle of aviation. In the decade following the Wright
Brothers successful 1903 Kitty Hawk flight, airports were primitive demonstration fields for
aviation enthusiasts; air shows took place in circuses and racecourse grandstands, with
airplanes stowed in barns and sheds (Berlin: Tempelhof) Following the First World War,
intense interest in civil aviation led to the construction of municipal airports in Europe and
the United States. These early terminal designs were influenced by railway stations, with a
central control clock tower flanked by low waiting lounge (Berlin: Tempelhof). Finally, due to
rising commercial demand and technological advances, airports began to resemble modern
terminal complexes by the 1930s and 1940s, with planned service hangars and sophisticated
terminals that showcased national prestige. The ocean-liner aesthetic of Paris Le Bourget,
the proto-modernist design of Liverpools Speke, and the fascist monumentalism of Berlins
Tempelhof are all examples of the prominence given to national aviation hubs of the time.
H I ST O RY O F T H E AIRPORT
Washington Dulles, 1962 Hajj Jeddah Airport, 1982 London Stansted, 1991
Phase II: Shed (WWII-1990)
In the postwar era, airport design revolved around the jet airliner and diversified
along with the proliferation of global commerce, with the United States leading the way
(Edwards). In the 1950s and 1960s, the advent of modern architecture and streamlined Jet
Age aesthetics culminated with iconic airport designs, such as Eero Saarinens 1962 JFK
Terminal in New York and Dulles Airport in Washington. As airports sprung up around the
world, airport design gradually became standardized and engineered systematically (Blow),
and conventions, such as the standard two-level departure and arrival terminal were adopted
universally (Edwards). To anticipate future changes, terminal structures became modularized,
as in the case of SOMs Hajj Terminal (1982), and international hubs morphed into multiple
buildings with diverse satellites and piers (Edwards). By the 1990s, many major new airports
have become cutting-edge architectural landmarks, with fanciful forms that celebrated
local cultural and geography, such as the mountainous imagery of Denver airports tent
roofscape, or technological sophistication, such as the high tech aesthetics of Fosters London
Stansted (1991) or the structural expressiveness of Pellis Reagan International (1997).
A E R OT R O P O L I S
Osaka Kansai, 1994 Hong Kong International, 1998 Beijing Capital Terminal 3, 2008
Phase III: Landform (1990-Present)
At the eve of the new millennium, airport design took a great leap forward: they went
offshore. Driven by the lack of space in dense Asian megacities, as well as public backlash
towards airport expansion in residential areas, countries began to build artificial airport islands.
These infrastructural landforms began with Renzo Pianos Kansai airport in 1994, in which
Japan, with its extensive history of megafloat engineering projects, constructs a 10 sq. km
island in the middle of Osaka Bay at the cost of $15 billion. Four years later, Norman Fosters
even larger Hong Kong Airport also opens on an 12 square kilometer reclaimed island in the
citys outskirts, with a price tag of $20 billion. Due to the successes of both Kansai and Chek
Lap Kok, the airport island model proliferated to Seouls Incheon (2001), Chubu Centrair (2005),
and Kobe Airport (2006). The development of these airport islands coincides with other mega-
scale airports in emerging markets, such as Kurokawas Kuala Lumpur (1998) and Taiwans
Taoyuan T2 (2000). More recent projects, such as Fosters Beijing T3 (2008) or Fuksas
Shenzhen Baoan (2015), may well be considered an infrastructural landform due to their sheer
scale and operational capacities; Beijing T3 alone host 980,000 square meters of floor space.
P R O G E NY O F P R O G RA M
PHASE IV: RISE OF THE AEROTROPOLIS
Over the course of the twentieth century, the airport evolved from a territorial proposition
(the field), to an architectural proposal (the shed), and finally to an autonomous landscape
condition (the landform) in-and-of-itself. Continuing this impressive transformation in scale and
complexity, the next evolutionary leap for the adaptive building type is the metropolis itself.
Defining Aerotropolis
In recent years, the idea of the airport city has been popularized by academic and
commercial papers, particularly by airport consultant Dr. John Kasarda. According to his
website of the same name, the aerotropolis is a metropolitan development area centered
around an airport core, where the layout, infrastructure, and economy of the city all service
air travel (Kasarda). Just as the railroad and the highway influenced urban development
in the 19th and 20th centuries, Kasarda believes that airports will become the dominant
developmental driver in this century. In succinct terms, the aerotropolis is a combination
of a giant airport, planned city, shipping facility, and business hub (Kasarda and Lindsay).
Rise of the Aerotropolis
Kasarda first conceived the umbrella concept of the aerotropolis by analyzing the
growth of airport regions and the economic impact that they bring to cities. Studying real-
world airport cities, such as Dubai International, Amsterdam Schiphol, and Hong Kong
International, Kasarda rationalized a series of metrics for good aerotropolis design. Airport
areas often grew outward from the main passenger terminal, first encompassing core
aeronautic activities, such as the control tower, then airport-related activities, like distribution
warehouses and terminal hotels, and then finally airport-oriented activities, such as restaurants
and manufacturing offices that benefit from airport visibility and proximity (Kasarda). The
proliferation of these airport areas, as well as the ever-increasing share of economic activity
that airport terminals themselves bring -- 90 million people per year pass through Atlanta
International, and retail revenue in Seouls Incheon airport surpassed $1 billion in 2008 --
have transformed airport areas from gateway zones into quality live-and-work destinations.
A E R OT R O P O L I S
Advantages of the Aerotropolis
For Kasarda, the main competitive advantage of the aerotropolis is its ability to leverage
speed in the contemporary, globally connected economy (Charles et. al.). For business
travelers, airport cities are attractive as they allow access to other hub airports and virtually
eliminate commute time. The aerotropolis is also beneficial to high-tech companies that must
frequently network with firms in other technology capitals around the world, as well as advanced
manufacturing outfits that rely on just-in-time logistics for prototyping and niche product
distribution. The aerotropolis shrinks the distance between global businesses, customers, and
workers, thereby making them attractive and cost-efficient communities for millions of people.
Future of the Aerotropolis: Capitalist Utopia
In their book Aerotropolis: The Way We Live Next, Kasarda and Lindsay envision the
airport city as an intermediary between global and local cultures. Kasarda projects that as
aviation increasingly connect the worlds people and places, we will simultaneously observe
global homogenization and local diversification...creating strikingly observable commonalities
among widely dispersed places while enriching the variety of products and services in those
places (Kasarda and Lindsay). This new world Kasarda foresees is created purely through
globalization, where cities become more generic, populations become more diverse, and
cultural distinctions break down in favor of greater trade and interaction. This commerce-driven
infrastructure city, with its free trade zones, duty-free shops, manufacturing spaces, logistic
hubs, and mixed use programs, allows profits, goods, and ideas to flow freely without restriction,
across global and local scales. In essence, the aerotropolis is the ultimate capitalist utopia.
P H A S E 4 : D E F I N I N G A E R O T R O PO L I S
AEROTROPOLIS SCHEMATICS, JOHN D. KASARDA

Airport consultant John D. Kasardas vision of the 21st century

aerotropolis -- an urban region anchored by an international
airport, with clusters of aviation-oriented businesses and
industries growing along radial expressways and rail corridors

A E R OT R O P O L I S P R O G E NY O F P R O G RA M
Aerotropolis Schematic, 2011 Ortelius Map of Utopia, 1595
UTOPIAN URBANISM + THE AIRPORT CITY
The aerotropolis, with its optimistic vision for new urban development and capital
growth, belongs to the well-established genealogy of utopian urbanism in architectural
discourse. Utopia--and specifically utopian cities--have been an ever-present source of
inspiration and contention in the architectural field, particularly in modern architectural
discourse. The term Utopia was first described by Thomas More in 1516 as a fictional
Atlantic island with an ideal society (Utopia) ; the word itself is a pun on both the
Greek word ou-topos, which means no-place, and the similar sounding Greek word
eu-topos, meaning good place (British Library). In contemporary times, the word has
come to describe a speculative state or community where everything is perfect, albeit
unattainable. In the field of architecture and urban design, utopia became a dominant
architectural theme throughout the 20th century, as changing technology, political
ideologies, and social norms empowered countless architects to theorize new forms
of social structures and lifestyles. Situating the Airport City within avant-garde utopian
proposals of the past, the aerotropolis will clearly realize three important utopian concepts
from the 20th century: radial sprawl, flexible space programming, and the networked city.
A E R OT R O P O L I S
Claude Ledoux Saltworks, 1775 Ebenezer Howard Garden City, 1898 Viktor Gruen Northand Center, 1954
Radial Development: Redefining the Urban Core
Kasardas comprehensive vision for the aerotropolis - a metropolitan region developed
around an airport hub -- has precedent in the radial city proposals of the past. The first notable
radial city proposed was that of Claude Ledouxs Royal Saltworks in Chaux France (1775). The
Enlightenment architect envisioned an ideal, miniature factory city with saltworks and directors
housing in the center and workers residences in a circular periphery. True town planning,
however, officially began with Ebenezer Howards Garden Cities movement in 1898. To rid
cities of overcrowding and pollution, Howard proposed a concentric network of satellite cities
linked to a city center by railway, with green belts restricting sprawl. Unlike other urban projects
of the time, such as Soria y Matas Ciudad Lineal or Garniers Industrial City, Howards city is
abstract and deployable anywhere (Frampton). Thus, it most closely aligns with the aerotropolis
as a siteless yet scalable system with an identifiable core. Finally, in postwar America Viktor
Gruen pioneered the pedestrian shopping center as an ideal urban center, with automobiles
and parking lots relegated to the periphery. While Gruen envisioned his shopping city to
sponsor walkable neighborhoods and community centers in its surroundings, eventually only
his mall designs were realized, further proliferating less-than-ideal suburbia across the country.
Interpreting Kasardas vision as a radial city, therefore, the airport city can be seen as the physical
realization of Ledouxs factory city (the airport as a productive zone), Howards garden city (the
airport as a regional hub), and Gruens shopping city (the airport as an interior commercial core).
UTOPIA AND THE AIRPORT
Archigram Plug-In City, 1964 Archigram Instant City, 1968 Cedric Price Fun Palace, 1961
Architectural Supershed: Program Playground
Besides its idealistic implications to urban organization, the development of aerotropolis
have also fostered the creation of landform buildings, where all the necessary functions of the
airport are placed under one undulating roof. As such, the airport heart of the aerotropolis is
also a descendant of another notable classification of utopian architecture: the multi-program
shed. Due to the ever-increasing scale and technical complexity of airports, airport architecture
today rely heavily on modular components to achieve maximum flexibility and efficiency. As
such, designs such as London Stansted and Hong Kong international harken back to the
radical utopian proposals of the 1960s and 1970s. The aerotropolis is akin to the Archigrams
Plug-In City (1964), in which the superstructure of the airport hosts diverse plug-in programs, or
the groups Instant City (1968), where the airship of culture is now decoupled as an airplane-
airport symbiosis. In a less nuanced comparison, the airport city is similar to Cedric Prices Fun
Palace (1961) in that both buildings are flexible hangar-like spaces that celebrate technology and
embrace the users wants and needs (Cedric Price, CCA). Considering the already extensive
array of amenities that airports have today, ranging from malls to saunas to butterfly forests, the
future airport of the aerotropolis may well be a climate-controlled theme park of human desire.
A E R OT R O P O L I S
Archizoom No-Stop City, 1968 Buckminster Fuller Dome City, 1960 Buckminster Fuller Dymaxion Map, 1943
Networked Globe: Spaceship Earth
Taking the concepts of program and interiority to an absurd extreme, the aerotropolis-
-and its interconnected planetary infrastructure--may morph into the ultimate urban utopia:
total architecture. Considering the airport city as an abstract project that can be built
anywhere on earth and host any program possible, the aerotropolis can then be traced to
Archizooms No-Stop City (1969), which features an infinite interior grid where anyone can be
anywhere, albeit with a secondary flight infrastructure. More literally, life in the aerotropolis,
which may mainly take place within the all-encompassing roofs and curtain walls of the
airport terminal, may be akin to living in Buckminster Fullers Dome City (1960), in which
the engineer propses covering Manhattan and other cities with a 2 kilometer geodesic
dome. Finally, if the aerotropolis concept evolves into a global network of similarly advanced
airport cities, then the concept of a planetary urban network, visualized again by Fuller as
an ideal geodesic dome or Spaceship Earth (Fuller), will be literally and physically realized.
Buckminster Fuller Geodesic Dome / Spaceship Earth, 1968
P R O G E NY O F P R O G RA M
UTOPIA CHALLENGES: PERIL AND PITFALLS

By placing the aerotropolis in the context of past urban

utopias--as a combination of a radial plan, a program
shed, and a networked system--the potentials and
pitfalls of the new airport city can be more easily
recognized. As an urban design and economic policy
proposal, Kasardas aerotropolis have great intention
and rationale. However, all masterplanning projects,
when implemented, must face the day-to-day realities
of the world. If the airport city is framed as the utopian
city of tomorrow, then the following are some of the
concepts critiques and implementation challenges.

Technologic Obsolescence Billionaires Lounge

In his book Aerotropolis, Kasarda asserts that
transportation innovations, such as the railroad or
the airport, are the driving force behind changes in
urban development (Charles et. al.). By that logic, the
aerotropolis makes the fallible assumption that air travel
will not be replaced by other modes of transportation
in the near future. In the next several decades, it is
entirely possible that other forms of transportation,
such as spaceships or hyperloops, will displace the
airplane as the preferred mode of travel. As such, airport
cities may need to have more diversified development
strategies to anticipate changing transportation modes.
As with many other failed utopias of the twentieth
century, the Aerotropolis may fail if it ends up intensifying
social stratification and inequality. According to Kasarda,
air passengers have significantly higher incomes than
the national average in the United States--normally
three to five times (Kasarda). If airport cities become
commonplace globally, they risk limiting the benefits of
airport-oriented development zones to a jet-setting global
elite. In this scenario, the aerotropolis may become a
gilded business lounge, home of a new aerial aristocracy.

A E R OT R O P O L I S PERILS AND PITFALLS

 Energy Crisis
The utopian aerotropolis also presupposes the
abundance of cheap oil. According to Charles et.
al., 15% of aircraft operating costs go towards fossil
fuels, which is a non-renewable energy source. If the
aerotropolis is indeed the utopian city of the current
century, then an alternative, non-hydrocarbon-based
energy source must be used to power future aircrafts.
Otherwise, the proliferation of airport cities may spur
higher demand for fossil fuels and lead to even greater
resource depletion on a dystopic Spaceship Earth.
A E R OT R O P O L I S
Environmental Degradation
Along with fossil fuel depletion, the extensive
environmental pollution caued by jet exhaust is another
significant issue for the aerotropolis. According to the
EPA, air travel is the most greenhouse-gas-intensive
mode of transportation, per mile, per passenger,
contriubting to almost 3% oftotal carbon emissions in
the United States (McDowel). Moreover, toxic nitrogen
oxide from high altitude planes are thought to damge the
ozone layer, furthering climate change. If fuel standards
are left uncheck in future aerotropolis networks, then the
utopian airport may confront a nightmarish, inhospitable
natural world outside terminal walls.
Security and Surveillance
The need for concentrating critical infrastructure in the
airport city also presents a great security challenge
(Charles, et. al.). In the age of global terrorism,
greater connectivity and density in the aerotropolis
may seem counter-intuitive to user safety, as new
airport cities will become attract targets for criminals.
To combat the threat of terror, security controls at the
aerotropolis may have to be much more stringent
than todays airport security, leading to a dystopian
surveillance state and the abolition of personal privacy.
P R O G E NY O F P R O G RA M
CASE STUDIES: UTOPIAS UNFOLDING

Despite the potential dangers of the airport

utopia, countries and cities around the world continue to
pursue the aerotropolis as a viable model for urbanism
and economic growth. The following five projects -- in
Hong Kong, Manchester, Doha, Songdo, and Beijing
-- represent contemporary manifestations of the ideal
airport city. Each of them are hybrids of airport and
city, albeit with varying inclinations towards one concept
or the other. As all of them are ongoing plans, only time
will tell if these aerotropolises will live up to their utopian
potential--or become yet another failed urban experiment.
Airport City, Manchester, UK HKIA SkyCity, Hong Kong SAR
Second City Enterprise Zone (2011-Ongoing) Quadramodal Hub (2006-Ongoing)

While most new airport city developments are expected to
occur in rapidly urbanizing Asia and Africa (Kasarda), the
aerotropolis has also been embraced by cities in the developed
world. Manchesters Airport City is a 659 million pound, 150-
acre business park adjacent to Manchester Airport, the first
planned aerotropolis in Great Britain. As part of the citys
Enterprise Zone, which aims to stimulate business growth
through tax incentives and broadband access, the Airport
City will feature high-end offices, an advanced manufacturing
district, logistic facilities and retail spaces. Manchesters
aerotropolis is billed as a business gateway between northern
UK and the world--a cheaper, more attractive business
alternative to London and other European airport cities (Atkins).
Hong Kong SkyCity is the budding core of an aerotropolis
centered around Hong Kong International Airport. Located next
to the main airport terminal on Chek Lap Kok island, SkyCity
boasts complexes for high-end retail, entertainment, hotel,
and exhibition. For instance, the 2008 Phase 1 of SkyCity
includes a nine-hole golf course and a 1.5 million-square-foot
exhibition center (Kasarda). Besides its impressive amenities,
the main draw of SkyCity is really its connectivity to the Pearl
River Delta region of southern China. From the airport, visitors
of SkyCity can take a short express train ride to downtown
Hong Kong, a high-speed ferry to key Delta locations, or drive
to nearby Macau and Zhuhai on a new expressway (Kasarda).

A E R OT R O P O L I S CASE STUDIES:UTOPIAS UNFOLDING

Songdo IBD, Songdo, South Korea
First Purpose-Built Aerotropolis (2005-Ongoing)
Located 12 kilometers from Seouls Incheon Airport, Songdo
International Business District is a $35-billion, 1,500-acre mixed-
used project billed as one of the first true Aerotropolis in East Asia
(Simon). An ageographical city according to architectural critic
Michael Sorkin, Songdo is planned to be business hub defined
by its air travel distance to adjacent Asian cities like Shanghai
and Tokyo. As such, government planners and developers had
hoped to attract a 21st century, knowledge-based cosmopolitan
workforce to this new city. In recent years, however, Songdo has
had difficulty attracting businesses, instead becoming a popular
residential city for young Korean families to settle (Shapiro).
The future of this utopian business hub remains uncertain.
A E R OT R O P O L I S
HIA Airport City, Doha, Qatar
Desert Utopia (2013-2022, Ongoing)
HIA Airport City is OMAs winning competition proposal for an
Airport City in Doha, Qatar. Intended as a live-work area for
200,000 people, the 10-square kilometer HIA Airport City links
the new Hamad International Airport with the Doha metropolis
(OMA). The 30-year masterplan calls for the creation of four
circular districts linked together by a green spine. Each district
- Business, Aviation Campus, Logistics, and Residential - will
have its own distinct identity and intensity of interface with the
city and airport. A series of green spaces and a new Desert
Park form the public areas of this new city, challenging the
form and livability of the desert metropolis. Phase 1 is intended
to open in time for the 2022 Qatar World Cup (Archdaily).
Beijing Daxing Airport
Terminal City (2015-2018)
Soon to be the largest passenger terminal in the world, Beijings
Daxing Airport is a planned international airport for the city of
Beijing. With the 2008 Beijing Capital Airport already operating at
and above capacity, government officials began plans to construct
a second airport in 2012.With an estimated budget of $13.8 billion (
Williams), the new airport will boast a 7.5 million square-feet
passenger terminal to accommodate up to 45 million passengers
a year. While not an aerotropolis in a conventional urban sense,
the planned scale and capacity of the building already qualifies it
as a mid-sized city. The six-pier radial layout, designed by Zaha
Hadid architects and ADPI, also harkens back to Kasardas
aerotropolis schematic. An express rail link is planned to connect
the new airport with Beijing South Rail Station (Williams).
P R O G E NY O F P R O G RA M
CONCLUSION: SITUATING UTOPIA IMAGE SOURCES

The aerotropolis -- a metropolitan region with an intermodal airport at its core -- is poised to Cover Flag
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8PQRZi0NWGc/UU4e7zU87vI/AAAAAAAAIaI/q12p6130rBE/s400/EU+flag.png
drive urbanization in the 21st century and become the new capitalist utopia. From its beginning as
a humble airfield to its growth as megafloat islands, the airport is a dynamic building type that has Popular Science
evolved throughout the twentieth century. As airports assume a greater role in contemporary society https://books.google.com/books?id=QywDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA70&dq=aerotropolis+popular+-
and urban development in this century, they are poised to transform into metropolises themselves. science&hl=en&ei=CqGYT8byCKei2wW4tYjzBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=book-thumbnail&res-
Promising the efficient transfer of knowledge, people, and products in the new economy of speed, num=1&ved=0CDEQ6wEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false
the airport city can be interpreted as a form of urban and architectural utopia, in line with the many Aerotropolis Schematics
other utopian city proposals of the modern era. With to its emphasis on infrastructure, program, and http://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5146/8b40/b3fc/4baa/2c00/00a3/medium_jpg/Case14356-
an integrated network, the aerotropolis borrows heavily from canonical speculative city strategies, 20111018114829971.jpg?1363577661
such as the radial urban plan, the program shed, and the network city. Perhaps because of these
Airport City Manchester
influences, the ideal aerotropolis will undoubtedly run into challenges as they become implemented
http://www.e-architect.co.uk/images/jpgs/manchester/manchester_airport_city_b020611.jpg
in real world cities; the masterminds of tomorrows airport cities must wrestle with changes in energy
use, pollution, public safety, as well as transportation technology. In places like Songdo, Hong Kong, Hong Kong Sky City
and Manchester, officials, planners, and architects are already working towards these perfected cities http://www.som.com/FILE/15477/hkairportskycitymasterplan_1400x800_som_01jpg.jpg?h=800&s=17
of tomorrow, weaved together by invisible air routes. These ongoing attempts at building utopian
Songdo IBD
communities will undoubtedly continue into the future; for the aerotropolis, understanding both its http://blogs-images.forbes.com/jaynejung/files/2011/11/header_masterplan.jpg
real and imaginary pasts -- as historic airports or utopian cities -- wil hopefully provide a larger, more
comprehensive framework of critique when they are finally completed and become real, lived-in places. HIA Airport City
http://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2013/03/dezeen_OMA-chosen-to-masterplan-Airport-City-in-Doha_3.jpg

Beijing Daxing
http://www.thepinnaclelist.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/001-New-Design-of-the-World-Largest-
Passenger-Terminal-Beijing-Daxing-International-Airport.jpg

A E R OT R O P O L I S SITUATING UTOPIA
BIBLIOGRAPHY

Atkins, John. Manchester Airport City Enterprise Zone. About the Enterprise Zone. Accessed December 11, 2015. http://www.manchesterairportez.co.uk/about-the-enterprise-zone

Blow, Christopher J. Airport terminals / Christopher J. Blow. NA6300 .B65 1996.

Berlin: Tempelhof, Liverpool: Speke, Paris: Le Bourget : Annees 30, architecture des aeroports = Airport architecture of the Thirties = Flughafenarchitektur der dreissiger Jahre / coordination scientifique = scientific coordination =
wissenschaftliche NA6300 .B47x 2000.

Charles, et. al., Airport futures: Towards a critique of the aerotropolis model, Futures, Volume 39, Issue 9, November 2007, Pages 1009-1028, ISSN 0016-3287, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.futures.2007.03.017.
(http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016328707000699)

Edwards, Brian, 1944- Modern terminal : new approaches to airport architecture / Brian Edwards. NA6300 .E36 1998.

Frampton, Kenneth Modern Architecture: A Critical History. 4th ed. London: Thames & Hudson, 2007.

Fuller, R. Buckminster Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth. [Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1969.

Hia Airport City. OMA. Accessed December 11, 2015. http://oma.eu/projects/hia-airport-city.

Howard Gillette Jr. (1985) The Evolution of the Planned Shopping Center in Suburb and City, Journal of the American Planning Association, 51:4, 449-460, DOI:

Kasarda, J. D, & Lindsay, G. (2011). Aerotropolis : the way well live next. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Kasarda, John D., (2010), Gobal Airport Cities. London: Insight Media.

Pinder, D. 2002 In defense of utopian urbanism: imagining cities after the end of utopia. Geogr. Ann, 84 B (3-4): 229-241.

Simon, M., Songdo, Korea: Aerotropolis, Metropolis, and Cyberopolis, Proceedings of the102nd ACSA Annual Meeting.

Shapiro, Ari. A South Korean City Designed for the Future takes on a Life of Its Own. NPR News, 2 October 2015.
http://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2015/10/01/444749534/a-south-korean-city-designed-for-the-future-takes-on-a-life-of-its-own

Willliams, Adam. Zaha Hadid Unveils Plans for Worlds Largest Airport Terminal. Zaha Hadid Unveils Plans for Worlds Largest Airport Terminal. Accessed December 11, 2015.
http://www.gizmag.com/beijing-airport-terminal-worlds-largest-zaha-hadid/35966/.

A E R OT R O P O L I S P R O G E NY O F P R O G RA M
A E R OT R O P O L I S P R O G E NY O F P R O G RA M