Panama City-Bay County International Airport officials want the new $330 million facility to be an “aerotropolis” that draws international flights and business to West Bay. To meet that goal, airport leaders are in discussions with several international carriers and have hired John Kasarda, a scholar, author and the man who coined the term “aerotropolis.” Airport Executive Director Randy Curtis said airport officials are in talks with several airlines in Canada and England. He described the discussions as ongoing but declined to name the airlines.
Kasarda is “the pre-eminent expert on economic development around airports,” Cramer said. “He’s most noted … for his development of the concept of the aerotropolis.” On his Web site, Kasarda describes the aerotropolis as an engine for economic development that attracts aviation-linked businesses, including hotel, entertainment, retail and corporate headquarters. An aerotropolis stretches for 20 miles outward from the airport and will be similar to a traditional metropolis, Kasarda wrote. “Although most aerotropolis development to date has been spontaneous and haphazard – spawning congestion and environmental problems – in the future it can markedly improved through strategic infrastructure and urban planning,” Kasarda wrote. “The real question is not whether aerotropolises will evolve around major airports (they surely will),” Kasarda wrote. “It’s whether they will form and grow in an intelligent manner, minimizing problems and maximizing returns to aerotropolis businesses and residents.”
Under the terms of the one-year deal, Kasarda will work for up to 16 days and make presentations to the media and public. The presentations would show “the new Panama City-Bay County International Airport and the surrounding area represent the best way forward for Northwest Florida, both economically and environmentally.
On my way out of Panama City Beach on July 8th I drove by the new airport site. I spent a few minutes talking with the guys working on the entrance road. The contractors are about to start pouring the main runway. I hope the authority is talking to Southwest as well as the international carriers.
Our Panama City Beach Condos are approximately 10 miles from the new airport. We are looking forward to learning what it is like to be in an aerotropolis.
1 response so far ↓
don // July 29, 2008 at 3:34 am |
Thanks for the update on airport. We own in Rivercamps- about 5 miles from the airport site. Very interested in this aerotropolis- of whatever its called.