Taoyuan Aerotropolis – public hearings and land expropriation

Rose Bridger land rights , , , , , , , ,

This paper for the 2016 HDCA (Human Development and Capability Association) conference documents the public hearings for land expropriation for Taoyuan Aerotropolis. The 4,771 hectare aerotropolis is the biggest megaproject planned by the Taiwan government, threatening to displace 46,000 people from their homes and farmland. It is part of wider picture of ‘Development-Induced Displacement’ – eviction, often forcible, for infrastructure projects. Following revision of the Land Acquisition Act in 2012, the Taoyuan Aerotropolis case is the first in Taiwan history to hold public hearings on land expropriation.

The paper argues that land expropriation must serve the community – evaluated on social, economic, cultural  and ecological aspects – and be fully compensated, and considers the potential for these public hearings to bring deliberative democracy to the land expropriation policy and ensure that people who are, actually or potentially, displaced genuinely own development rights in the process. With the interpretation of public interest still controlled by the state and its allies, the authors conclude that, in their current form, the public hearings cannot achieve these goals.

Resisting Kulon Progo Airport – inspirational artwork

Rose Bridger art, Indonesia , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Artwork galvanizes local campaigns, and bridges language barriers, forming a powerful tool for building international communication and solidarity. The resistance campaign against Kulon Progo Airport in Indonesia, also called New Yogyakarta International Airport (NYIA) offers some striking examples. Residents of six coastal villages have resisted eviction from their homes and farmland for the airport since 2011. The text on the poster on the right of the top row translates as ‘We strongly condemn destroyers of the healthy environment. We prosper without an airport and mining’, linking the campaign with the grassroots struggle against iron mining. Watermelons are depicted destroying a plane, because this is one of the key crops grown on the site earmarked for the airport, along with squash, eggplant (aubergine), peppers, rice and maize. The anti-eviction struggle intensified on 28th August. Without warning, construction equipment escorted by hundreds of police entered the site, displacing residents and destroying farmland. Citizens attempted to block the entry of the equipment, but were outnumbered by police.

An ‘airport city’  or ‘aerotropolis’ is planned around Kulon Progo Airport, threatening more evictions and the loss of more farmland. The poster on the bottom right brings together the Kulon Progo airport and aerotropolis resistance with the struggle against a similar megaproject, Kertajati Airport, that is already under construction 300 kilometers away near the northern coast of West Java. Kertajati Airport, also referred to as BIJB (Bandara Intenasional Jawa Barat), is the first phase of a major aerotropolis scheme on a 50 square kilometre site which is predominantly fertile agricultural land. Residents of ten villages have been evicted from their homes and productive farmland for Kertajati Airport and in 2016 residents of an eleventh village, Sukamulya, resisted a series attempts to measure their land for the project. Citizens’ resistance against eviction for Kulon Progo and Kertajati airports is supported by Jogja Darurat Agraria. T-shirts with anti-Kulon Progo Airport / airport city artwork have also been produced

GAAM leaflet highlights five anti-aerotropolis campaigns

Rose Bridger publications , , , , , ,
GAAM has published a leaflet outlining the aerotropolis model of development and highlighting five examples around the world which are meeting with resistance from affected communities: Kertajati in Indonesia, Jeju Island in South Korea, New Mexico City Airport (NAICM), Istanbul’s third airport and Manchester Airport City. You are welcome to download the leaflet and print your own copies.

Indonesia: Report on the Struggle Against ‘New Yogyakarta International Airport’ (NYIA) in Kulon Progo

Rose Bridger Indonesia , , , ,

An update on eviction of farmers for a new airport in Kulon Progo, Indonesia, calling for international solidarity with communities resisting displacement, especially from India as Indian conglomerate GVK is an investor in the project.

Insurrection News's avatarInsurrection News

Received on 20.08.17:

Since 8 August last week, particularly in Macanan Glagah area and 10 August heavy machinery were already operating within the compromised area (the area in which some community of peasants already sell their land and compromised with the project, although their relocation still unsure) for the development of NYIA. Despite community and peasant resistance against NYIA, the government and PT Angkasapura, cooperating
with this large company from India as the airport major investor: GVK corporation. (We urge comrades in India to communicate with us and build international solidarity)

Mainstream coverage of past struggle against NYIA in English:

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/10/31/islands-focus-hunger-strike=
-over-kulon-progo-airport-continues.html

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/05/21/kulon-progo-airport-develop=
ment-violates-human-rights-komnas-ham.html

Grassroot and independent media coverage (Indonesia):

selamatkanbumi.com

Facebook: Jogja Darurat Agraria

PS: The struggle against NYIA is connected to the previous struggle of peasants in Kulon Progo against iron mining in which they won the struggle, not through legal means but through community grassroots struggle (riots…

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Veteran Narita Airport protest leader Kōji Kitahara dies, aged 95

Rose Bridger land rights, Protest , , ,

William Andrews's avatarThrow Out Your Books

Kōji Kitahara, the Narita Airport protest leader, has died, aged 95.

He passed away in the afternoon of August 9th in a hospital in Tomisato, Chiba. A farmer and landowner, Kitahara was the official head of the Sanrizuka-Shibayama United Opposition League Against the Construction of Narita Airport (also known as the Farmers League Against the [sic] Narita Airport, or more colloquially known in Japanese as Hantai Dōmei, or the Opposition League), which campaigns against the expansion of Japan’s premier airport.

After Issaku Tomura, who initially led the protest movement until his death in 1979, Kitahara was the most prominent figure in the Hantai Dōmei. Though increasingly frail in recent times, Kitahara’s fervour was boundless. I met Kitahara once and heard him at rallies on a few occasions. He remained a passionate public speaker despite his advancing age and he was still participating in rallies until last year.

koji kitahara-sanrizuka narita protest leader Kōji Kitahara at…

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WE NEED TO HAVE THE AVIATION CONVERSATION

Rose Bridger airport expansion , ,

An interesting article from the UK , WE NEED TO HAVE THE AVIATION CONVERSATION critiques Norwich Airport’s expansion plan, to treble its passenger number over the next 30 years. It is an example of the ‘predict and provide’ model of transport planning that assumes continued aviation growth as the starting point for all policy, which is incompatible with action on climate change. The article is reposted from The Norwich Radical website.

Spotlight on Sustainable Development 2017

Rose Bridger Spotlight Report , , , , , , , , , ,

spotlight coverGAAM has contributed a short article about aerotropolis projects to the Spotlight Report on Sustainable Development 2017: Reclaiming Policies for the Public. The report, by the Reflection Group, a global alliance of civil society organizations and networks was launched on 10th July and is being discussed at the High-Level Political Forum, the United Nations’ central platform for follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The GAAM article The ‘Aerotropolis’ phenomenon – high risk development thwarting SDGs was written by Anita Pleumarom, coordinator of Tourism Investigation and Monitoring Team (t.i.m.-team) and appears as a box on page 115 in chapter 11, which relates to SDG (Sustainable Development Goal) 11, to Make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. The SDGs, 17 in total, a set of goals to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure prosperity for all as part of a new sustainable development agenda, were adopted by countries on September 25th 2015. Each SDG has specific targets to be achieved over a 15 year timeframe, by 2030.

The Spotlight report assesses the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, analyzing systemic problems in its realization. Governments recognized the essential role of the public sector, including public finance, in achieving the SDGs. But this role is being undermined by privatization and public-private partnerships (PPS), which have strengthened the grip of corporate power on people’s lives. GAAM’s aerotropolis article outlines how this new form of airport-centric development, driven by a combination of private business interests and state control and spreading rapidly worldwide, works against achieving progress towards the SDGs, as it ‘profoundly subverts the goal of building inclusive, equitable cities’. The report provides a breadth and depth of information to help enable civil society to reclaim public space, and measures that governments should undertake to establish the requisite regulatory and global governance framework.

 

Airport-linked special economic zones and aerotropolis projects

Rose Bridger Special Economic Zones, tax breaks , , , , , , ,

The aerotropolis was on the agenda at the Tax Justice annual conference held at City, University of London on 5th-6th July – Global Tax Justice at a Crossroads: Southern Leadership and the Challenge of Trump and Brexit organised by the Association for Accountancy & Business Affairs (AABA), City, University of London (CityPERC), and the Tax Justice Network (TJN). GAAM co-founder Rose Bridger presented a paper entitled ‘Airport-linked special economic zones, aerotropolis projects and the race to the bottom’. Aerotropolis planning and development worldwide is closely intertwined with a new generation of special economic zones (SEZs) offering tax breaks and other incentives.

An idiot’s guide to why Sydney doesn’t need a second airport

Rose Bridger aviation expansion , , ,

belinda106's avatarBell The Strange

My opinion on this subject seems to be wildly unpopular, everywhere I turn I encounter people who genuinely believe that building a second airport at Badgery’s Creek is necessary. Desirable, even.

Now I’m not the smartest person, but even I’ve been able to see the facts and see that it’s actually a horrible, terrible idea. So here it is, a guide to why we don’t need a second airport that is so simple, even I’ve been able to comprehend it.

“Sydney Airport is too busy. It’s obvious we need two airports.”

Sydney Airport is not at capacity. Even with the curfew, there is room for a lot more growth. In fact Sydney Airport did their own independent study that showed that a second airport is neither cost effective nor necessary, which is why they’re not the ones building it. The government chose to ignore all that and build it themselves…

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