A destination in itself and create a premier business, retail and entertainment hub. This area should be a well balanced mix of office parks, retail and entertainment and hospitality. The Aerotropolis concept was developed by John D. Kasarda, an American academic. An Aerotropolis is a city in which the layout, infrastructure, and economy are centered around a major airport. Experts in the field are of the opinion that Airports will shape business location and urban development in this century as much as seaports did in the 18th century, railroads did in the 19th century and highways in the 20th century. Macroeconomic as well as microeconomic factors should be taken into consideration when building the Aerotropolis. There should be the targeted usage mix as well as the targeted development timelines for the Airport City. The Aerotropolis should be a well planned city like Chandigarh. Perhaps this Aerotropolis would hopefully become a benchmark in urban planning, unlike the planning mishap that is called Cochin now. An Aerotropolis is a new urban infrastructure form comprising aviation-intensive businesses and related enterprises extending up to 25 km outward from a major airport. It is similar in form and function to a traditional metropolis, which contains a central city core and its commuter-linked suburbs, much like Cochin and its satellite towns. For an Aerotropolis to develop around Cochin, we need to plan carefully. This would require adequate infrastructure inside the airport — such as cold storage facilities, cargo centre — to cater to industry outside. Similarly, we need to develop the infrastructure outside the airport such as roads and rail connectivity. carefully planned Aerotropolis around Cochin can “improve Kerala’s supply-chain networks and business competitiveness, boost agricultural, manufacturing and services exports, attract tourists and new foreign investment, and position the region as the 21st century air commerce crossroads of south Asia”. While the Aerotropolis have their merits, it requires comprehensive planning for effective construction and execution of such projects. For the concept of Aerotropolis to take off in India, the government would need to integrate airport planning with urban & regional planning and business cities planning
Similarly, an Aerotropolis has an ‘airport city’ at its core, which comprises retail malls; leisure and culture centers such as spas, museums, regional art; logistics and air cargo; hotels and entertainment; office and retail complexes, and is surrounded by clusters of aviation-related enterprises. Experts argue that Aerotropolis have significant economic impact extending up to 90 km. “Just as you have central cities and the greater metropolis, you now have airport cities and greater Aerotropolis,” said University of North Carolina Professor John D Kasarda, who pioneered the concept. Aerotropolis are powerful engines of local economic development, attracting air-commerce-linked businesses to the land surrounding major airports, analogous to the function of central business districts in the downtown areas of major cities.
Aerotropolises typically attract industries related to time-sensitive manufacturing, e-commerce fulfillment, telecommunications and logistics; hotels, retail outlets, entertainment complexes and exhibition centers; and offices for business people who travel frequently by air or engage in global commerce. Clusters of business parks, logistics parks, industrial parks, distribution centers, information technology complexes and wholesale merchandise marts locate around the airport and along the transportation corridors radiating from them.