Àrea Metropolitana de Barcelona

On April 12^th and 13^th, Atlanta hosted the second workshop of the METROAirports Project. During this meeting, the participants exchanged experiences and analysed the socioeconomic impact of airports in metropolitan areas.

During the workshop, the AMB representatives visited the College Park airport city and the Gateway Center GICC (Georgia International Conventions Centre), which includes hotels, offices and high-quality urban developments. Participants were also able to see first-hand the different land uses and the importance of developing industrial zones and businesses near the airport.

The metropolitan areas of Barcelona, Paris and Atlanta participated in the workshop exchanging and presenting ideas, explaining their projects and initiatives regarding their airports and cities. Atlanta explained the impact of their airport on the economy and on the labour market of the metropolis. The policies targeting the recovery of river areas and its natural resources were also described, together with the development of Community Improvement Districts (CIDs). The success of this airport-city can be explained by several elements, such as government cooperation, regulatory flexibility, a shared vision of the future, land availability and fair prices, support from community, and airport cooperation and leadership. AMB and Paris presented their governance model and the functioning of their airport cities, stressing green areas and connectivity, as well as socio-economic and employment policies.

One of the outcomes of the project will be a study compiling these experiences, which will include topics such as the definition of the airport areas, land-use planning and the different governmental and economic initiatives, and also their social impact. The ultimate objective will be the elaboration of a series of political recommendations for metropolitan governments.

The next project meeting will take place in November in Paris, and in 2019 the final outcomes of the project will be presented in Barcelona.