UrbanEyes was commissioned to prepare a 5km2 master plan adjoining a major airport in the Jiangxi Province. Development interest for the site significantly increased after the unveiling of the recent airport expansion plan that included new runways, airport terminals, apron upgrading, metro connection and cargo facilities.
The original project positioning as an airport city seems obvious given its proximity to the expanding transportation hub. But our experience in both airport planning and airport city planning (the two are commonly mistaken to be the same) suggested that the future use of the site has a lesser relationship with the airport than assumed and therefore it needed to be considered separately and independently.
Therefore, contrary to the initial assessment, the proximity of the site to the airport imposed significant development constraints, including noise nuisance, height restrictions, accessibility, and security control. This restricted the possible urban functions and in turn the business model. As it shifted away from an airport dependent business, the challenge turned to identifying and attracting suitable industries, urban economies and related functions that are appropriate for such location.
The key takeaway from such project is the need to reassess any convenient and obvious positioning which in this case the site location, even though ‘airport city’ is currently popular thus making it easier to sell. If the project continued with the airport city positioning, significant problems could arise at the implementation stage which may have detrimental effects for investors and the city..