Airport Cities

Apart from the primal functions like handling passengers, freight and aircrafts, airports nowadays play a strategic role in regional development and are key facilities for the competitiveness of any territory. On the one hand they are engines for economic activity and create direct and indirect employment. Beside their function as  intermodal transport nodes modern airports nowadays are surrounded by hotels and shopping facilities, provide office space and  conference rooms. Airports on the other hand are sources of diverse environmental influence and certain land use forms are excluded in their direct vicinities . The term “airportcity” describes a new understanding of airports as dynamic centers of activity for travelling, shopping, business, leisure and even housing.