Spatial economic attributes of airport-centric developments in Cape Town and Johannesburg

Abstract

ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The existing knowledge lacks empirically informed description and explanation of the economic fundamentals driving the forces of attraction of airports. This void is arguably a result of the absence of an appropriate theoretical framework to guide the analyses. The aim of the study was therefore to contribute towards a theoretical framework that describes and explains forces that drive the location and mix of airport-centric developments. Towards achieving this aim, the objectives of the study were: one, to establish the type of economic activities that are located on and around the Cape Town and OR Tambo airports, and analyse the reasons for locating there; two, to identify a propulsive economic element found around the Cape Town and OR Tambo airports, and analyse the linkages they have with the airport-centric developments and airports; three, to analyse the spatial, economic and structural linkages within the airport-centric developments of the Cape Town and OR Tambo airports, between the airport-centric developments and the airports, as well as the airport-centric developments’ linkages with their metropolitan areas and other regional, national and international airport-centric developments and locations; four, to establish the changes that have occurred over time in the form of the airport-centric developments of the Cape Town and OR Tambo airports. To address the research objectives, the study adopted a case study approach, centred on the Cape Town and OR Tambo international airports and surrounds in South Africa. A survey was used as a main data collection method, with the investigations informed primarily by the conceptualisation of the growth pole theory. From the findings, the Cape Town and OR Tambo airports were discovered to have propulsive economic qualities that act as significant forces of attraction in the clustering of firms. Together with their airport-centric developments, the two airports were discovered to have growth pole properties because of the linkages that occur within the study areas, and the linkages that exist between the airport-centric firms and the airports. It was noted that the transport-oriented firms (typified by couriers and freight carriers) act as anchors in some fellow airport-centric firms making use of elements of urbanisation economies, particularly as regards the use of the two airports for airfreight services. The study contributed towards a spatial economic theory of airport-centric developments, using the following concepts as building blocks: economic space, relational firm, geographical and organisational proximity, relational scale and pattern; understood in terms of their interconnections with the concepts of linkages, agglomeration economies, clustering, and the propulsive economic element. The theoretical framework is summarised as follows. One, airport- centric firms are not atomistic islands that merely transmit market transactions, but are characterised by intra-firm and inter-firm linkages. Two, the economic space that airport-centric firms are part of is not equivalent to geographical space. Three, in their business operations, airport-centric firms rely on a combination of geographical proximity and organisational proximity. Four, geographical scale does not restrict the operations of the economic space of airport-centric firms, resulting in a combination of spatial clustering and organisational clustering.

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