Spatial economic attributes of O.R. Tambo and Cape Town airport-centric developments in South Africa

Abstract

Background: The concentration of development around airports is a topical subject on the relationship between transportation, accessibility and the distribution of land use. Notwithstanding the existing literature on the analysis of airports and surrounds, and normative models of airport-led development, extensions are required on the empirical analysis of spatial economic attributes of airports and surrounds.

Objectives: Objectives of the article were twofold: firstly, to establish the economic activity mix and reasons for the location of firms on and around O.R. Tambo and Cape Town international airports; and secondly, to analyse linkages between firms on and around the two airports as well as linkages those firms have with their metropolitan, regional, national and international contexts.

Method: The article focused on the South African case studies of O.R. Tambo and Cape Town international airports and used a telephone survey as the primary data collection method.

Results: The article discovered that the developments around O.R. Tambo and Cape Town international airports are spatial clusters that are also linked with other airports in South Africa and beyond.

Conclusion: The article extended existing knowledge by providing insights on the spatial economic characteristics of airports and surrounds. The findings can be improved upon with work on other case studies, and potentially be used as bases for extending a theoretical framework that describes and explains the spatial economic forces that drive development on and around airports.