Case: Airport Authority
The Airport Authority (AA) has been under considerable pressurefrom the Regional Government to increase capacity at ChangowAirport. Originally built fifty years ago as a small regionalairport serving a population of 250000, Changow's single runway isat full capacity for 20 hours of the day. The region's populationhas climbed to over 5 million and much of this growth in air travelis due to the rapid economic expansion of the region from industryand tourism.
The options facing the AA are not attractive. To increasecapacity at Changow presents some serious engineering problems onthe only available land to the north, over which a new runway mustbe built. The problems are due to local geology and some regularflooding from the Hankse River delta flowing nearby. A residentialpopulation of about 1 million lives within an area of 15 kilometersto the north of the airport and they believe that their lives wouldbe affected severely by a major new runway.
Moreover, economic developments close to the airport crowd rightup to the southern boundary, which is the only suitable means ofaccess from Changow city for a wider road. The land close to theeast and west boundaries contains mainly high income residentialproperties, mixed with isolated green sites, containing rarenatural plants, exotic birds and other small wildlife. The StateGovernment recently designated some of these areas as ‘NationalHeritage Sites’.
The other option is to build a completely new airport at Fongow,at a distance of forty kilometers from Changow, in agriculturalland, presently farmed by thousands of small holders, whosefamilies have worked the land there for many generations. Newaccess roads would be needed, plus, perhaps a railway system whichwould require many bridges and tunnels, and the airport would beclose to high wooded hills. There are doubts about the operationalfeasibility of building an airport so far from the regionalcapital.
The local political representatives, all members of thegoverning coalition, favor expansion of Changow airport on thegrounds of ‘national economic development’, ‘social progress’ andnational pride. So does local business, which claims that thecurrent airport is holding back economic expansion in the region.Airport passengers, business and tourist alike, are plagued by longdelays to flights and missed connections, and traffic jams duringaccess and egress/way out along the airport's single and inadequatesouthern road to Changow city.
Public disquiet/worry about proposals to expand Changow airporthave surfaced and are attracting media interest. The mainopposition comes from local residents around the airport, thoughthey do not yet form a majority. On the southern boundary, peopleliving along the main road to the airport oppose widening the roadbecause this would mean demolishing many thousands of homes. Peopleliving just behind these houses oppose widening because this bringsthe new road right up to their properties. A ‘Homes Before Roads’campaign is underway.
People to the north oppose a new airport runway because of theimpact during construction and afterwards on the residents whowould have to move to make way for it, and on those left behind,who would be near aircraft taking off and landing. A ‘Hands off theHankse’ campaign has been formed.
- Summarize the main finding(s) of the case.
