South Korea's Aerotropolis
An aerotropolis is an urban plan in which the layout, infrastructure and economy is centred around an airport, existing as an airport city. It can also be defined as "a city planned around its airport, or more broadly, as a city less connected to tis land-bound neighbours than to its peers thousands of miles away", according to Greg Lindsay, co-author of " Aerotropolis: The Way We'll Live Next ".
In his book, co-written with John Kasarda, Lindsay argues that aerotropolis are the future of the global city which is an amalgam of made-to-order office parks, convention hotels, cargo complexes and even factories, in a global network whose fast-moving packets are people and goods instead of data. He believes that the old real-estate rule of "location, location, location" is being swapped for the new rule of "accessibility, accessibility, accessibility."
The authors argue that aerotropolis will change the way we live. "The aerotropolis is tailor-made for today's world, in which no nation reliably dominates and every nation must fight for its place in the global economy", Lindsay stated. "It is at once a new model of urbanism and the newest weapon in the widening competition for wealth and security."
"Cities have always formed around transportation –ports and harbours and then train stations," states Lindsay. "Air travel is the only way to connect globally, and now, more frequently, cities will grow around airports."
Songdo International Business District is built around the Incheon International Airport. This condition has made Songdo a compelling aerotropolis which is three and a half hours flying time to one third of the world's population. The Incheon International Airport's condition of massive gateway makes Songdo IBD a suitable business hub for all of Northeast Asia.
The new Incheon International Airport serves as a main centre for Korean Air, Asiana Airlines and Polar Air Cargo. Also, Incheon International Airport is at the moment Asia's eighth busiest airport in terms of passengers, the world's fifth busiest airport as to cargo and freight, and the world's eleventh busiest airport in terms of international passengers in 2006. In 2009, Skytrax ranked the airport the best in the world, giving it a full 5-star ranking.
In 2001, the South Korean government approached a New York-based about developing a city that, by being bear the newly opened airport in Incheon would attract multinational corporations and possibly turn the region into the world's gateway to northeast Asia. "The idea was that it would be an international business district and that foreigners would find this a convenient place to set up business," said former U.S. ambassador to South Korea, Thomas Hubbard, when the project began. Songdo is still under construction as its importance as a business and residential hub grows.