Airport Cities in U.S. Metropolitan Context

39 Pages Posted: 25 Apr 2013 Last revised: 10 Oct 2013

See all articles by Stephen Appold

Stephen Appold

University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill - Kenan-Flagler Business School, Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise

Date Written: July 23, 2013

Abstract

Airports have long been a focus of urban planners. Airport cities, one of the three possible means of addressing the need for rapid airport access, are held to have emerged out of the aviation age. Systematic research into their prevalence and nature is lacking. Thus, airport city planning remains an ad hoc process without theoretical or empirical guidelines. Using Census 2000 CTPP data for the 51 most populous U.S. metropolitan areas, the size and composition of airport area employment are placed in the context of three elements of urban form which characterize metropolitan spatial patterns: cones, corridors, and clusters. The areas surrounding major airports support significant aggregations of employment which are, on average, half as large as the corresponding CBDs. Transportation-providing employment is by far the most heavily represented sector. Transportation-supporting employment, especially wholesaling, is also represented. Transportation-using employment, such as producer services, is in nearly as much evidence as it is in other non-CBD urban sub-centers. These results provide a set of grounded expectations for those planning airport area development or re-development.

Keywords: Airports, Airport cities, Aerotropolis, Employment distribution

JEL Classification: R12, O18, L93

Suggested Citation

Appold, Stephen, Airport Cities in U.S. Metropolitan Context (July 23, 2013). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2254422 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2254422

Stephen Appold (Contact Author)

University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill - Kenan-Flagler Business School, Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise ( email )

McColl Building
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3490
United States
919 599 9551 (Phone)

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