aerotropolis

Forests and lakes destroyed for Istanbul’s 3rd airport

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Kuzey Ormanları Savunması​ (the ‘North Forest Defence’) which campaigns to protect the forests to the north of Istanbul, has made an English language version of a shocking video. It documents the destruction of forests for the city’s third airport. Its ecocide: piles of felled trees; a long line of earth moving trucks nose to tail along the highway; bulldozers gouging away at the earth; forests, lakes and meadows destroyed. A sheep farmer explains that there is nowhere for him to tend his animals once the construction site is fenced off and fears dreadful consequences of the loss of the forest, it attracts rainfall that the city depends upon. The forest protectors want the world to know what is happening here. People sharing this video in English on social media are urged to use the hashtag #‎ResistAgainstInstanbul3rdAirport‬

The 3rd Airport Project in İstanbul Against Life, Nature, Environment, Humanity and Law from Kuzey Ormanları Savunması

The third airport is linked with other forest destroying megaprojects – a third bridge over the Bosphorus, a motorway and a canal linking the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara. On 26th March Kuzey Ormanları Savunması​ held a press conference during which architect Mücella Yapıcı warned of irreversible ecological damage from the airport and other megaprojects, and announced that several business chambers, including the Chamber of Architects and the Chamber of Engineers, have united to open a court case relating to two Environmental Impact Reports in court. Both reports, prepared for investors, emphasised serious ecological destruction, with Yapıcı stating ‘This is the massacre of Istanbul. We cannot just sit here silently and allow this’.

At the press conference, Kuzey Ormanları Savunması​ presented its latest report. Entitled ‘Life, Nature, Environment, Humanity and the Law against the Third Airport Project‘ (article in Turkish) it explains that the megaprojects – the bridge, highway, canal and airport – are interconnected and designed to feed each others’ growth. The report also reveals that the new airport is not just an airport; it is a plan for an aerotropolis (a city built around an airport), on a site of over 76 square kilometres. Even if the new airport reaches its stated goal of 150 million passengers per year (which would make it the world’s busiest airport), the land area far exceeds that which would be required for aeronautical operations. Currently, Atlanta Airport in the US is the world’s busiest passenger airport, handling 95 million passengers per year, covering a site of 16.25 square kilometres.

The aerotropolis plan is designed to trigger development on land surrounding it including business, cultural and sports complexes, sprawling over the last remaining pristine natural areas of the area. Negative environmental impacts from felling of forests include loss of climate regulation through oxygen production and carbon sequestration. There are serious concerns over the concreting over of lakes which is a threat to Istanbul’s water supply and the loss of habitat hosting an abundance of wildlife such as wolves, insects and at least 160 species of birds.

Andal aerotropolis set for takeoff

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A new airport built on a greenfield site in Andal, Bengal is due to start operations this month. It proclaims itself to be ‘India’s first airport-city project’. Partha Ghosh, Managing Director of the develop of the project, Bengal Aerotropolis Pvt Ltd (BAPL) is reported to be ‘bullish’ about the new airport’s prospects for attracting low cost airlines – and this will be helped by tax breaks offered by the West Bengal government. But even with this subsidy the airport does not expect to sufficient earnings from airline parking and landing fees. The article states that ‘the profitability of the project clearly hinges on the city-side development’ and the airport anticipates earning revenue from real estate, from residential, commercial and industrial development on land owned by the airport. Read the full article in the Hindu Businesses Line: Greenfield private airport set for takeoff

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Aerotropolis: serving global business

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Aerotropolis guru Dr. John Kasarda has written an in-depth article for Sodexo, one of the world’s largest firms. Entitled ‘Aerotropolis: Airports as the new city center‘ it is informative on how the aerotropolis serves the interests of aviation oriented global businesses. Airports serve as corporate headquarters and, apparently, the business space at some major airports, such as Paris Charles de Gaulle, is larger than the city’s central business districts. The article also indicates the scale and extent of aerotropolis developments worldwide: ‘Airport city and aerotropolis development is gaining substantial traction, multiplying rapidly on a global scale…. I’ve identified over 80 airport cities and broader aerotropolises (airport-centered urban economic regions) around the world that are either already operational or in early stages of development.’

Real estate firm predicts growth around Hyderabad and Bengaluru airports

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In India, a real estate firm, Vestian Global Workplace Services, predicts growth in real estate in aerotropolis zones around two of the country’s main airports – Hyderabad and Bengaluru (Bangalore). The firm notes that hotel and MRO (Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul of aircraft) facilities is already developing, further growth is expected on greenfield (undeveloped) land surrounding the airports. The article also states that real estate ‘activity in the government-promoted economic hubs is gaining momentum’, an indication of the government’s support for aerotropolis style development. Full article: Hyderabad, Bengaluru aerotropolis poised for take-off, says Vestian

Taoyuan campaigners’ ‘Lost Bear’ sculpture on dispay in Miaoli

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Plans for an aerotropolis surrounding Taoyuan Airport, in Taiwan, involve forcible land expropriation that threatens to displace 46,000 people. Resistance against the megaproject involves innovative artwork – most notably an Alternative Land Art Festival in December 2014, on part of the farmland that the government wants to acquire for the project. The focal point of the festival was a Lost Bear sculpture standing a full 8 metres high. The Lost Bear is going on display to the south of Taoyuan, in Miaoli County. You can read an article about this, Anti-Aerotropolis ‘Lost Bear’ to go on display in Miaoli, in the Taipei Times.