'Aero-tropolis' grows near city
Zhengzhou Airport Economic Zone develops around runways to become an efficient and thriving logistical hub, writes David Powell
Rising in the outskirts of Zhengzhou is a 415-square-kilometre "aero-tropolis" - a city with an airport at its core. Still in its infancy, the Zhengzhou Airport Economic Zone (ZAEZ) will be home to more than 2.5 million people whose lives and livelihoods will be supported by a five-runway airport primarily servicing the area's manufacturing and logistics industries.
The aero-tropolis already boasts impressive numbers. Total fixed commercial real estate investment topped 40 billion yuan (HK$50.6 billion) last year, with large industries in the area producing added value of more than 34 billion yuan, according to ZAEZ chief adviser John Kasarda, who also directs the Centre for Air Commerce at the University of North Carolina's Kenan-Flagler Business School.
Total imports and exports hit 37.9 billion yuan in 2014, accounting for 58.3 per cent of the total value of foreign trade in Henan.
Kasarda describes an aero-tropolis as "a city built around an airport", a business-centric configuration that offers companies "speedy connectivity to their suppliers, customers and enterprise partners worldwide, increasing both firm and urban efficiencies".
"Dubai, Hong Kong and Singapore have evolved into complete aero-tropolises," Kasarda says. "In fact, all three may be legitimately described as global aviation hubs with city-states attached."
Manufacturers benefit from a central airport from which they can fly lightweight and high-value products around the world. Foxconn, with its production of 118 million smartphones by 300,000 people, is the anchor and one of the main beneficiaries of the ZAEZ.
