An
conference and exhibition centre could be one of the key attributes of a
new ‘aerotropolis’ in the Thames Estuary should London Mayor Boris
Johnson get his way.
According to national press reports, the
mayor announced his vision for a new city with 20,000 people to be built
around an airport terminal in the Thames Estuary during his visit to
India to strengthen economic ties.
Johnson was reportedly
inspired by a visit to Hyderabad’s new two-runway airport, which has
become an example of an ‘aerotropolis’ set 30km south of the city
centre. The site plans include a convention centre on a 16-acre parcel
of land, as well as a hospital and business school.
The
‘aerotropolis’ concept is being spearheaded globally by American
professor and urban and aviation infrastructure design expert John
Kasarda, and is based on the premise that airports have become key nodes
within economic development and global enterprise. Kasarda was an
adviser to the Hyderabad project and is expected to be invited by
Johnson to help with his submission to the Davies commission on
aviation, the London Evening Standard claimed.
“This
airport in Hyderabad is very impressive,” Johnson was quoted as saying
during the tour. “The Indians are very ambitious but they are very
efficient as they use the airport to grow the local economy. They are
quite right. We have much to learn.”
This airport-connected town
of the future sees the runways and terminals situated at the heart of
the city, surrounded by time-sensitive manufacturing and distribution
facilities, retail, office buildings, entertainment, hotel accommodation
and a world trade complex. The scheme also specifies exhibition halls
and a convention centre as trade hubs within the development.
The
mayor has offered up the Thames Estuary as a way of alleviating
London’s airport congestion and expansion issues, and as an alternative
to controversial plans to build another runway at Heathrow to the west.
Two
proposals have already suced over the last 12 months for how such an
airport could be realised. In September, architects Gensler revealed
plans for a floating ‘London Britannia Airport’, based on four runways
tethered to the sea bed. The architects said the design allowed for up
to six runways if required.
Sir Norman Foster’s design team also
announced his £50bn Thames Hub vision last year, which includes an
estuary airport capable of handling 150m passengers annually integrated
within a logistics matrix and connected by rail to the Thames Estuary
ports and other UK ports.
Pictured: Foster and Partners’ Thames Estuary airport concept.
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