Topic: In the last decades, airports have launched diversification strategies and their surroundings host more and more firms typical of the knowledge economy. However, there is a lack of research on European mid-sized airports. The chairs of this project have expertise in this field. They have also developed courses and workshops. On this basis, this project organizes:
- a scientific exchange between Bayern and France – in the form of joint seminars resulting in a joint publication in English;
- the further training of advanced students from Bayern and France at the Master level and PhD level.
Linking urban and regional economics and spatial planning, the following questions will be explored:
- What are the territorial effects of an airport on a metropolitan economy?
- How to develop synergies between the airport city and other sectoral and spatial components of a metropolitan economy?
- How can landside transportation infrastructure be used to spread the positive external effects of an airport to a wider metropolitan region?
The project will take the form of two seminars: one organised in München, the other in Tours. It includes the mobility of doctoral students. Master students will be involved as the seminars will be linked to two courses: the seminar ‘Airport Region of Munich’ (Technical University of München) and the workshop ‘Airport City: the Case of Tours’ (University of Tours).
An output of the seminars will be publications in English, hopefully filling the gap of research on European airport cities. Linked research in progress on the urban aspects of the knowledge economy will be discussed, in view of developing a future research project. Thanks to the support of BFH, the project will initiate a strong and sustainable collaboration in the field of research and education.
Researchers: Alain Thierstein, Fabian Wenner, Valentin Reinhardt; research group "Land Use, Infrastructure, Spatial Transformation"
Principal: Bayerisch-Französisches Hochschulzentrum
Cooperation Partner: Christophe Demazière, Polytech Tours – UMR CITERES, Université de Tours