The Durban University of Technology hosted Dr John Kasarda, the Father of the Aerotropolis, at the DUT Hotel School yesterday (May 30 2012) where he delivered a talk on the Aerotropolis, a term he defines as a new urban form placing airports in the centre with cities growing around them, connecting workers, suppliers, executives, and goods to the global market-place.
Dr Kasarda is Kenan Distinguished Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship and Director of the Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise at the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School where he heads up the Institute’s Center for Air Commerce. He is an international consultant in the conceptualisation and strategic planning of the aerotropolis. He also chairs the annual Airport Cities World Conference and Exhibition and has been an advisor to airports around the globe and also served as a consultant to the Carter, Reagan, Bush, and Clinton administrations.
In 2011, Time magazine named Aerotropolis “One of the Ten Ideas that Will Change the World.”
Born in Pennsylvania, Dr Kasarda’s has published more than 100 articles and nine books on airport cities, aviation infrastructure, economic development, and competitiveness.
This informative academic lecture, hosted by DUT in partnership with the Dube TradePort Corporation and Tongaat-Hulett, came as the Dube Aerotropolis, an ambitious plan to transform King Shaka International Airport into KwaZulu-Natal’s economic powerhouse, is currently in its first phase.
Dube Trade Port Corporation, the government owned company behind the Dube Aerotropolis said this Aerotropolis will create an environment where global meets local, integrating business with leisure and flight as well as the ability to fly and connection.
The first purpose-planned-aviation-related city in Africa with a design based on the principle of sustainable development, the Dube Aerotropolis will have five zones all centered around the airport. The first is the Dube City; an urban green hub located within Dube Trade Port that provides a secure, world class cosmopolitan 24 hour business, trade and retail experience. The second component is the Dube AgriZone; Africa’s first integrated perishable supply chain which is basically an IT integrated high-tech agricultural cluster that hosts the largest climate controlled growing area in Africa.
The third part is the Dube CargoTerminal, which will feature technologically advanced cargo-handling equipment that allows cargo to be digitally tracked and mechanically handled. The forth piece is the Dube TradeZone, which will comprise of a specialist freight orientated precinct offering premium airside real estate. The Dube TradeZone is the first precinct in the world where freight forwarders and shippers are all located within a single facility with direct airside access while the fifth component is the King Shaka Airport, which is the only international airport in Africa where integrated air cargo services are a priority.
Dr Kasarda offered an outlook at the opportunities of the Dube Aerotropolis by drawing on decades worth of progressive research.
Dr Kasarda said transportation infrastructure has always stimulated and shaped business location throughout the ages. The first wave was sea ports, then river canals, followed by the railroad wave, then highways and now airports, which Dr Kasarda said will become the 21st century commerce magnets and regional economic accelerators.
“The 21st century will be an aviation based economy because between 2010 and 2030, worldwide commercial passenger traffic will likely increase from 4.9 billion to about 13.3 billion. In the same period, world air cargo is expected to move to more than triple. Air logistics and the new economy are inextricably woven. Already, over one third of the value of worldwide trade already moves by air cargo. There is a real physical internet moving people and products. Airports today are much more than aviation infrastructure. They are multimodal, multifunctional enterprises generating considerable commercial development within and well beyond their borders. The airport leaves the city and the city follows; the airport becomes the city,” he said.
Turning his attention to the Dube Aerotropolis, Dr Kasarda said one of the challenges facing it is whether KwaZulu-Natal and its municipalities will successfully develop this “new economy”. The development of a new development strategy cornerstoned by the Aerotropolis, fully leveraging the assets of King Shaka International Airport as well as Dube Trade Port Corporation for KZN’s competitive advantages as well as coordinated actions between all government levels and the private sector in implementing the Aerotropolis strategy will respond to the challenges it faces.
“Dube Aerotropolis assets include a huge amount of undeveloped land in the King Shaka Airport region. There is 78 percent of 22 000 hectares within 15 km of King Shaka available. You have a blank canvass. That is your advantage. You have good road and rail connectivity to the South African metro markets as well as Africa’s two largest ports. You also have a state of the art cargo terminal at Dube TradePort. But you can’t brush problems under the rug,” said Dr Kasarda.
He said these problems include high costs of electricity and ICT bandwidth, agricultural exports of relatively low value and limited high-tech, poor access to and from rural areas and an overburdened road network as well as an underutilised rail system.
On getting it right, he said, “The Aerotropolis is not an option, it is necessary otherwise you will get an unsustainable development. Learn from aerotropolis experiences elsewhere, follow aerotropolis planning principles and upgrade the existing aerotropolis planning you have so far. But in all this rush, don’t forget the airport, it is an extremely important component of the aerotropolis,” he said.
–Sinegugu Ndlovu
