Airports and cities in the context of globalisation: A multidimensional symbiosis in Adolfo Suárez‐Madrid Barajas Airport

Abstract

The interpretation of airports as places where landings and take‐offs occur is obsolete. Globalisation, the “mobility era” and a so‐called “culture‐cognitive capitalism,” favour the reconceptualisation of airports and may turn them into necessary infrastructures for every city that aspires to be “global.” An airport–city symbiosis is analysed and is defined from a multidimensional perspective (operative, economic, and symbolic). These perspectives have led to important works of expansion and renovation of airport facilities and a multiplication of the services that may be developed within them. The results show this multidimensional symbiosis in general, although it is analysed in detail for the Spanish case study of the Adolfo Suarez‐Madrid Barajas Airport, which is the main air gateway of Spain to the rest of the world and the most important European hub connecting Latin America with Europe. Its global exposure is reflected in its ability to stimulate the economic and residential development of its surroundings and to strengthen the modern image of Madrid, thanks to morphological changes and increases in non‐aeronautical uses, which are viewed as city marketing initiatives that help to promote Madrid in the world urban hierarchy.

Competitiveness of International Airports Production Infrastructure in Global Air Transportation Market: Comprehensive Situational Model

“…A number of scientific papers (Kasarda, 1995;Crockatt, 2000;Addie, 2014;Wiedemann, 2014;Díez-Pisonero, 2019) investigate the relationship between airport infrastructure and their surrounding regional spaces. Scientists have proposed the concept of aeroregionalism, the essence of which is that the imperatives of globalisation and neoliberalisation enhance the regionalisation of aerodrome space, and the development of large-scale airport infrastructure affects the competitiveness of the surrounding regional space.…”

Mutualistic Pattern of Intra-Urban Agglomeration and Impact Analysis: A Case Study of 11 Urban Agglomerations of Mainland China

“…Symbiosis was firstly proposed by a biologist Heinrich Anton de Bary in 1879 as "the living together unlike organisms" [14]. Later on, the symbiotic theory was applied in urban and regional studies by extending the study objectives from biological organisms to geographical objects, such as communities, agencies, industries, and cities [15][16][17][18]. One of the advantages of using the symbiotic theory is that it can distinguish the interaction patterns among the participant units, which includes parasitism, commensalism, and mutualism.…”

Efectos económicos asociados a las ciudades aeroportuarias. El caso del aeropuerto Josep Tarradellas – Barcelona – El Prat

“…Díez-Pisonero (2019) destaca el fuerte crecimiento económico de la zona cercana a dicho aeropuerto. 9 Los desarrollos de las Ciudades Aeroportuarias de los aeropuertos de Palma de Mallorca, Málaga -Costa del Sol, Valencia y Sevilla se encuentran aún en fase de redacción, por lo que no se conocen las cifras.…”