Summer Issue 2021 - 49

airport
communities
development that happens to have an airport in the
middle of it can bring additional revenue streams
that help sustain the airport's capital programs.
FORRER: Improving the passenger experience is
a trend that goes back a number of years. People
want architecturally significant and accessible airports
with retail, food, and dedicated spaces for
families with infants and young children, business
travelers, pets, etc. Post-pandemic, I don't expect to
see massive redesigns related to COVID-19, because
vaccinations and changes in behavior should
negate any need for material facility alternations.
Providing modern facilities that improve the traveler
experience and allow people to be in comfortable,
often subdivided separate spaces versus being
packed together while awaiting their flight is something
that was already underway, and we see that
continuing, particularly in the United States, which
is behind some other countries in those areas.
How can airports better integrate with
and provide value to their surrounding
communities?
LeTOURNEUR: Airports are becoming living laboratories
for innovation. In conjunction with planning for
a new future terminal, we recently helped to evolve
the Pittsburgh International Airport [PIT] Innovation
Campus. PIT airport has established strategic partnerships
with major academic partners including
Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Pittsburgh
medical campus, and Robert Morris University,
as well as private-sector companies and Allegheny
County Economic Development, to evolve a focus on
advanced materials manufacturing, composites and
plastics for packaging, medical devices, aerospace
components, automotive parts, and consumer durables.
Accordingly, airports are creating employment
centers that incubate talent and attract international
companies to drive technological innovation and
advanced manufacturing. Airports are gateways and
anchors for regional economic development.
SMITH: Before COVID, at Atlanta airport we had
63,000 jobs at any given time. Of course that was
reduced, but it's coming back because of the renewed
activity of cargo and logistics and because our passengers
are coming back. We understand that we are
stakeholders in the community, and if we keep development
going, that helps with job creation.
What other trends do you see?
FORRER: I believe that facial recognition and other
technologies will allow for a seamless and paperless
air travel experience relatively soon. The vision
of getting out of your car, having a camera recognize
you or having the option to do an iris-scan check-in,
and proceeding nonstop to your flight is becoming
quite possible. You won't need a ticket. You won't
need to stand in line for a security check, and if
your timing is good and the boarding schedule
accurate, you may be able to walk directly to your
seat or your pre-flight dinner reservation. Faster
travel with less hassle, access to amenities, and no
exchange of paper seems like the future. Similar
technology-oriented visions are also being applied
to air cargo to make it faster, safer, and paperless.
SMITH: We are considering ways to increase transportation
options all around the airport and creating
quicker, safer ways to get from downtown to the airport.
For some airports, rail has been tremendously
important. Enhancing connectivity makes it easy for
everybody to understand they can get to the airport
with no problem. We have put canopies over the airport's
entire walkway, so if it's raining, people don't
have to worry about getting wet. We've even put in
an elevated walkway from the terminal to the parking
lot so people can safely cross over the roadway.
TERRELL: The COVID-19 pandemic has put a little
bit of a halt on this, but flying vehicles like Uber
Elevate are going to have a great impact on airports.
They will be like air taxis, and in addition to moving
people, they will be moving cargo goods, delivering
packages close to your home for last-mile distribution.
There are challenges to be addressed before
they become a reality, but that's true with most
innovations, and I think there are ways to mitigate
the concerns. UL
RON NYREN is a freelance architecture, urban planning, and real
estate writer based in the San Francisco Bay area.
SUMMER 2021
URBAN LAND
49
Summer Issue 2021

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