Aspiration and the Aerotropolis: Airports, Infrastructural Speculation and Geoeconomic Form

This article examines the aerotropolis as a globally circulating geoeconomic model that links aviation infrastructure to supply chains and speculative aspirations of growth. It shows that while aerotropolis imaginaries build upon early ideas of ascendencce associated with flight and fantastical visions of aerial futures, aerotropolis realities often also rehash tired supply chains of logistics, freight and defence that rely on global ecological extractions. While the aerotropolis form is highly contextual, it is at once generic and repetitive. Focusing on three case studies-Dallas Fort Worth, Zhengzhou and Incheon-the article critically analyses how the aerotropolis has been taken up and reworked across distinct geopolitical and institutional contexts. It considers the specific aspirations that have shaped each project, including efforts to establish new urban centres, reconfigure economic regions, and position cites within global logistical networks. In doing so, the article explores the evolving aeropolitics of airport development and considers how the aerotropolis is transformative as both a spatial concept and a vehicle for imagining new geoeconomic forms.