Better Airport Regions

In the research project "Better Airport Regions", TU Munich and ETH Zurich, together with TU Delft, are investigating the sustainability potential within exemplary airport regions in Europe. The airport operators as well as municipal and regional administrations in the airport regions of Zurich and Amsterdam support the project and, together with the research group, design governance approaches for implementation in addition to technical system solutions.

In the BAR project, the task (…) was to screen European airports for activities and projects towards a more sustainable development of the airport and its close regional environment, often densely urbanized. Since spatial and functional conditions, as well as operational logics differ substantially between smaller airports and larger hub airports, which must cope with completely different patterns of flows of passengers, goods and information, the initial project scan was limited to hub airports in Europe.

Within the framework of the BAR project, Research Module 2b provides a catalogue and a synoptical review of strategies and projects followed by European hub airports in their quest for better integration within the structure of the surrounding metropolitan region. This work package considers the integration of the airport into the urban regional context through a coordinated planning approach to be a strategic, viable option if the synergetic potential of the system is to be tapped into. It focuses on projects and best practices where a joint approach can be regarded as critical for success.