Assessing the synergy and sustainability of Airport-Industry-City(AIC) system in aerotropolis: Evidence from Zhengzhou Aerotropolis in China

Aviation economy refers to the newly derived income effect after the aggregation of aviation-related industries, it is related economic activities in the formed aerotropolis. Therefore, sustainable development of aerotropolis provides important guarantee for the steady rise of aviation economics and air transport. The research conclusions and practical experience show that, the key to the sustainable development of aerotropolis lies in coordinating the linkage relationship between Airport-Industry-City (AIC), as well as the external system connection between AIC and economic, social and environmental systems in the airport area. Therefore, assessing the synergy and sustainability of AIC system is important step. Based on the perspective of sustainable development, the article analyzes the synergetic development mechanism of AIC system, and select positive and negative outward indicators to create AIC synergetic evaluation index system for aerotropolis; Secondly, a synergy measure model and sustainability evaluation model is constructed; Finally, Zhengzhou Aerotropolis is selected as a case study to evaluate the AIC from 2009 to 2018, the research results agree with the actual situation: (1) From 2009 to 2018, the orderliness and overall synergy of AIC system of Zhengzhou Aerotropolis has grown rapidly, and (2) its sustainability has good prospects for development. (3) Aerotropolis must continuously optimize AIC's internal synergetic development mechanism and coordinate the relationship between AIC system and the regional environment.

Automated summary

Aviation economy refers to the new income effect derived from the aggregation of aviation-related industries in aerotropolis. Sustainable development of aerotropolis is crucial for the steady growth of aviation economics and air transport. Coordinating the linkage relationships between Airport-Industry-City (AIC) and the external system connections with economic, social, and environmental systems is essential for the sustainable development of aerotropolis. Evaluating the synergy and sustainability of the AIC system, as well as optimizing the internal synergetic development mechanism, are important for the continuous growth and development of aerotropolis.