Development and planning of sustainable airports

Air transport is considered an important part of the transportation infrastructure and it has a great impact on urbanisation as well as long‐term economic growth. Airports significantly add to local economy and facilitate a country's integration into the global economy and also provide social benefits to the society. However, together with the socioeconomic benefits, airports adversely affect to the surrounding environments, ecology and society. Some of the main concern, that is, emission from aircraft, noise while take‐off and landing of aircraft, land use, waste disposal and energy consumption, are raised with respect to airport's functioning which requires the attention of the regulatory authorities. The authorities to find the balance approach for the development of airports and to minimise the unfavourable consequences. Therefore, the efforts to be made to develop the “sustainable airports”. “Sustainable development” practises in the airports, improves the social, financial and operational benefits of the airport and also lessen the negative impacts on the environment. After understanding the concept of “Sustainability”, next challenge is to make airport sustainable. The main objective of the article is to find, how to make airport sustainable, when it is called that the airport is a “sustainable airport”. After reviewing the relevant literatures, it may be concluded that “sustainable airports” can be developed by incorporating the sustainability concept in to the airport planning and then taking care of the airport sustainability issues and barriers and airport sustainability components, that is, policy making, commerce, social responsibility, environmental and service quality.     

Negotiating the Problem of Airport Noise: Comparative Lessons from the Australian Experience

This paper critically examines recent responses by and interactions between stakeholders in negotiating the acceptability of aircraft noise standards in Australia in order to help inform debate in Britain. It investigates the interplay of the politics of noise with the broader land use planning context focusing on the role of government, airports, community interests, and the development sector. Different local environments inevitably frame diverse contexts, but the pervasive challenge is in securing the acceptable trade‐off between the economic dividends promised by airports and local quality of life. Discussion is structured around four main issues: an introduction to the Australian politics of airport noise, an historical timeline of key contextual events, identification of the major actors in the noise governance framework, and a focus on an issue of increasing political significance, namely the different positions of airports and developers in the increasing intensification of urban development.     

What's So “Special” About Airport Authorities? Assessing the Administrative Structure of U.S. Airports

An ample academic literature discusses airports' utility as economic development anchors for metropolitan areas, yet very little is known about the administrative apparatus of these important local government enterprises. To better understand airport structure and management in the United States, directors of primary airports were surveyed. Based on this national survey, the administrative structure and position of airports with regard to local government—i.e., special district or functional department—were examined to determine the place these entities occupy on the local government management landscape, as well as the implications of retaining airport authorities in studies of special-purpose governments. This essay concludes that airport authorities do not follow the conventional form and function of special-purpose governments. Consequently, analyses of special-purpose governments should exclude airport authorities because these nonconforming entities may cloud rather than clarify our true understanding of special-purpose governments.     

How the City of London lost at Brexit: a historical perspective

The nature of the City of London as an offshore financial centre has long made London dependent on the British state providing protection from external political regulation, even as London’s foreign currency business separated its interests from British governments’ economic policy preoccupations. Since the 2008 crash and the onset of the eurozone crisis, London has faced threats to both its autonomy from external regulatory demands and to its offshore business interests at the same time as the long-standing external statecraft of British governments around EU membership has broken down. The Cameron governments’ efforts to protect the City within the European Union under political conditions that were transformed by the eurozone crisis exposed the limits of Britain’s position as a member of the European Union. When David Cameron then tried to resolve the problem of EU membership through a referendum he made it extremely difficult to defend the City’s broader commercial interests in the Single European Market because freedom of movement issues weighed significantly more in British domestic politics than financial services.     

'Between a Rock and a Hard Place': The Coalition,the Davies Commission and the Wicked Issue of Airport Expansion

In 2010, the Conservative‐Liberal Democrat Coalition placed a moratorium on airport expansion in the south‐east of England. In office, however, it has faced a sustained political campaign from supporters of the aviation industry and expansion, leading to the appointment in September 2012 of the Davies Commission on airport capacity. This paper critically evaluates this nascent policy reversal in aviation policy, analysing the political backlash in favour of expansion and the political mediation of such demands by the Coalition. It argues that while the shifting political context has placed new pressures on the coalition, its current difficulties cannot be divorced from the continued resonance of the logic of aviation expansion embedded in British institutions at the end of the Second World War. The paper concludes with an assessment of the challenges facing the Davies Commission, the coalition and campaigners, when set against the continued ‘grip’ of aviation on our collective consciousness.     

Corporatism and Planning in London in the 1980s

This study confirms the existence of corporatist forms of interest intermediation at the micro level of four local planning authorities in London. In all four boroughs distinctions could be drawn between local business associations and metic, non-local firms. The former displayed most of the institutional characteristics outlined by Schmitter in his original definition of corporatism. In contrast the non-local or metic firms did not exhibit all these institutional characteristics at the level of local government. The conditions under which they bargained with local planning authorities (LPAs) were often influenced by statutory and other requirements handed down from central government. These requirements were themselves often the result of corporatist interest intermediation at the level of the central state. Both local business associations (LBAs) and metic production organizations (MPOs) were required by (LPAs) to implement planning policies. This process has increased in importance during the Thatcher era. Economic decline has made the local planning authorities even more dependent on private organizations for implementation than before. Local LBAs and MPOs were granted privileged access to the planning system. Only the LBAs were granted representational monopolies for their very local areas in this process. MPOs developed representational oligopolies but because they were so few in number they could be in conflict with one another over the rights to develop a particular site. In return for these representational privileges both the LBAs and MPOs were expected to moderate their demands for major departures from the approved local plans. The methods used to intermediate interests to the local planning systems were primarily informal. Although a small number of formal meetings were held each year between external organizations and the LPAs they represented a minority of the contacts between them and representatives of both LBAs and MPOs. Informal bargaining took place in two ways. First, there were issue specific negotiations over particular developments. The second type of contact was long-term, non-issue specific and primarily concerned with network building. Both types of bargaining were relatively secret and involved only the top echelons of the organizations concerned.     

THE ROLE OF STATE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS IN NATIONAL INDUSTRY POLICY

A decade of economic stagnation has produced a plethora of calls for government action to stimulate economic growth in employment. Arguing that activists federal industry policy is likely not to emerge in the United States, Rasmussen and Ledebur examine the potential role of states in a "federalist industry policy." States presently administer effective programs of financial assistance to business enterprises. These efforts are "rationally parochial" in that their purpose is served equally well by cresting a new job or pirating from other jurisdictions. This paper considers how state programs can be reoriented to serve national growth and development objectives as well as those of specific jurisdictions. It concludes that a subnational industry policy offers a unique opportunity to reallocate existing state resources to achieve a much higher social return.     

Liberal and conservative dissensus in areas of domestic public policy other than business and economics

This research is part of a project that examines the nature of political ideology in the United States and its impact on the formulation of public policy. Here we explore the bases of liberal – conservative dissensus in areas of domestic policy other than business and the economy using a model developed by Janda, Berry, and Goldman. We find that the major elements of dissensus are: a strong conservative disposition to defend order; with a few exceptions a liberal indifference to order as conservatives define it; conservative opposition to the expansion of federal power over states or individuals and/or expansion in federal (and often state and local government) spending unless order is threatened; much greater liberal emphasis on equality; and varying conceptualizations of basic values to the degree that liberals and conservatives seem almost to be talking past each other using two different languages.     

So Close,but so Far? The Davies Commission and the Contested Politics of UK Airport Expansion

Aviation expansion and the construction of a third runway at Heathrow airport is firmly back on the political agenda. Yet, the stark fact remains that a growing list of British governments has been unable to engineer a partial or temporary policy settlement in aviation. In exploring the challenges of reaching such a settlement, this article characterises the shifting and contested political and policy contexts of UK aviation. It begins by exploring the ‘wicked issue’ of aviation expansion before foregrounding how the politics of air travel is riven by competing policy frames, fragmented governance and the absence of gatekeepers. It argues that the Davies Commission and its efforts to remove aviation from the domain of partisan politics provided little more than a temporary respite for government. It thus concludes by questioning whether the May government's expansion proposals will succeed this time around, outlining how the contributions in this collection address the themes and issues of this overriding policy puzzle.     

Europäisierungsdruck und Parteiendifferenz in den deutschen Bundesländern

Based on the 2008 Rüffert judgment by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) which dealt with wage-related compliance requirements laid out in several German federal state procurement laws (Tariftreueerfordernis) the convergence induced by Europeanization through law is being investigated. Contrary to the initial presumption of unilinear adjustment, three different responses are identifiable. Conservative-liberal governments abolish the respective regulations. Conservative governments which are subject to influence from associations representing small- and medium-sized business enterprises absorb the adjudication by a rapid adjustment consistent with the European requirements. Coalitions led by the Social Democratic Party tend to a policy expansion influenced by smaller coalition partners. They codify more rather than less social and environmental standards in policy amendments. The case study points out the persistence of political party differences in the face of Europeanization which is dependent on a sufficient degree of programmatic incongruence as well as on the plurality of European law.     

Explaining Taiwan's policies in the South China Sea, 1988–99

The current paper discusses Taiwan's policies in the South China Sea during the period 1988–99. These policies are discussed with reference to ‘realist’ and ‘non-realist’ theoretical approaches. The realist position regards Taiwan's South China Sea policies as an outcome of its relations with the People's Republic of China and the Southeast Asian countries. These policies are fashioned and implemented in a coherent way by a unitary state. Two ‘non-realist’ positions are identified. One focuses on influences from domestic political parties and party factions, bureaucratic segments and economic interests. The other emphasizes the impact of transnational alliances, mainly through oil business lobby groups allied with mainland Chinese partners. The investigation sustains much of the realist argument. It is, however, argued that party politics and bureaucratic infighting has had an independent effect on Taiwan's South China Sea policies, while the impact of oil business interests has been limited.     

The Decline of Traditional State Dirigisme in France: The Transformation of Political Economic Policies and Policymaking Processes

During the Mitterrand years, successive governments' policies of deregulation and privatization have progressively deprived the state of many of its traditional interventionist instruments. As a result of this, as well as of the internationalization of world trade and the economic integration of Europe, French business has become more independent of the state as well as more interdependent. With these changes in both business and government have come a concomitant transformation in French policymaking processes, such that the traditionally heroic government policies formulated absent business input have been succeeded by more everyday ones, where business for the most part leads and government follows.     

The best of both worlds: scale economies and discriminatory policies in London’s global financial centre

From the early 1960s onwards London has managed to vie with New York for the top spot as an international financial centre. Ever since then, London has reigned as a leading global financial hub, despite not having behind it anything like the political or economic backing enjoyed by New York. This paper seeks to explain this phenomenon by building on Kindleberger’s classic analysis of financial centres as international hubs that arise due to economic, geographic and infrastructural advantages, and more recent theories of specialized financial centres which suggest that financial centres deploy discriminatory business practices in order to compete with the scale economy-based centres. Our central claim is that London’s continuing financial supremacy can be traced to the way that the opposing ‘economic’ and ‘political’ sets of criteria necessary for a financial centre are here inextricably fused together in a mutually reinforcing dynamic. Three case studies are used to support this claim: the market for international loans and deposits; the forex (FX) and over the counter (OTC) derivatives markets; and the area of asset and collateral management.     

Airport Security, High Reliability, and the Problem of Rationality

The events of September 11, 2001, have raised troubling questions regarding the reliability and security of American commercial air travel. This article applies the concepts and logic of high–reliability organizations to airport security operations. Contemporary decision theory is built on the logic of limited or buffered rationability and is based on the study of error–tolerant organizations. The concept of high–reliability organizations is based on the study of nearly error–free operations. For commercial air travel to be highly secure, there must be very high levels of technical competence and sustained performance; regular training; structure redundancy; collegial, decentralized authority patterns; processes that reward error discovery and correction; adequate and reliable funding; high mission valence; reliable and timely information; and protection from external interference in operations. These concepts are used to inform early–stage issues being faced by both local airports and the newly established Transportation Security Administration.     

Can We Plan Too Much? – The Case of the 2010 Metropolitan Strategy for Adelaide

With a Labor government in power in South Australia since 2002, a series of interlocking plans for the state have been developed of which the most important are the strategic plan for the state, the strategic infrastructure plan for the state and the metropolitan strategy for Greater Adelaide. The metropolitan strategy of 2010 reflected the ambitious population and employment targets of the state strategic plan and provided a liberal supply of residential land for urban expansion together with ambitions for a more compact city with higher densities. There are inconsistencies in these objectives which have not been resolved and reflect the optimistic forecasts of the state strategic plan and the nature of the metropolitan planning process with strong input from the development industry. Preliminary evidence is that the plan is not tracking as proposed and more attention needs to be paid to short‐ and medium‐term prospects, and community involvement particularly in strategic localities.     

The public sector growth and state autonomy in Western Europe: The changing role and scope of the state in Ireland since 1950

The expansion of the state in advanced industrial societies since 1945 has stimulated studies of the determinants of public sector growth, the nature of state intervention and the capacity for the state to act in a quasi‐autonomous way. The last also provides a means for distinguishing between alternative models of state action. In this article the issues of state expansion and state autonomy are used as the basis for examining the growth of the public sector and shifting activities of the state in Ireland since 1950. It is argued that a state‐centred model best accounts for the behaviour of the Irish state.     

Elements of Strategic Planning and Management in Municipal Government: Status after Two Decades

This article focuses on the use of strategic planning and management processes in municipal governments with populations over 25,000. Strategic planning has been used in municipalities for 20 years now, but little is known about how it is used and the results obtained. In particular, we explore whether municipal governments tie other components of the overall strategic management process to their strategic plans. Findings do not show a dramatic expansion in the use of strategic planning, but there is some evidence of growing sophistication, as demonstrated by links to other management and decision-making activities. Managers were enthusiastic about their experiences with strategic planning and largely satisfied with their achievement of goals and objectives. Overall, we find a raising of the bar as far as strategic planning is concerned, but the use of comprehensive strategic management is only beginning to develop in a small number of leading-edge municipalities.     

The development of business associations in Central America: the role of international actors and economic integration

This article analyses the formation and development of business associations in Central America from the 1960s to the present. It shows how the development of the region's economies and its formal business associations were shaped by increasing economic integration in the region and by foreign governments and institutions. The argument presented is that the role of external actors and increasing international economic and political integration renders inadequate the commonly held explanation regarding the existence and operation of business associations as interest groups in the region. The origin, cohesiveness, evolution and influence of many formal business organizations in Central America is the result not only of a self-help function, the dynamics of business–state relations, or that of business reacting to perceived threats from labour or other organized groups, but also of various international influences. These international forces worked to both divide and unify the region's business interests but overall have increased their numbers and the technical and political capacity of both new and existing organizations. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Arrow--Directional Semiotics: Wayfinding in Transit

Airport language is a spectacle, an interface for social relations between humans and machines. Signage intensifies social relations--reconfiguring territories of geophysical/architectural space into territories of recognition that speak to a productive power of language that is fundamentally non-representational. Airports are walked, the signs don't accompany or reflect upon the airport, they are machined into it. The traveller navigates through a highly textually mediated space where the signs not only enact semioticised territories but also directly intervene into the material machinic processes of travelling. As Guattari (1992: 49) might say, these point-signs 'don't simply secrete significations'. They activate the bringing into being of ontological universes. This paper focuses on 'signage' in a quite expanded yet also limited sense. It focuses on the increasing standardisation of the signifying semiologies of transit wayfinding systems which signal the primacy of pragmatic interactivity in the communicative event of walking the airport. If the controlling semiosis of non-places is, as Auge´ (1995) notes, the dominant space of supermodernity, then a thorough consideration of such signifying technologies would seem in order. This paper focuses on one of the most ubiquitous signs at the airport: the arrow. The airport's arrow is an asemic figure through which perhaps to read the semiotic technologies of the airport itself. The arrow is both a tool and a trope for the imperatives of global transit: it turns place into passage, striates space into controlled flows, and urges the traveller to 'move on'. It is a point sign that leads the way to a consideration of the technologies, both semiotic and a-semiotic, that provide the navigational and behavioural guidance that is increasingly in evidence, not only at the airport but in all public spaces.     

Russian lobbying in the United States: stages of evolution

The article examines Russian lobbying in the US. The endogenous and exogenous factors of Russian lobbying are analyzed as well as its qualitative and quantitative characteristics. The article depicts stages of Russian lobbying development: (i) from government to private entities; (ii) nongovernmental lobbying; and (iii) a return to government. Additionally, occasional attempts by Russian entities to secure funding from the US budget are mentioned. Two case studies are studied to show the nature of current Russian lobbying in the US: lobbying campaigns by Techsnabexport, state‐owned corporation, and GML, a private business concern. The article concludes that Russian lobbying in the US is weak. At the beginning, it was mostly about investment consulting, and with the rise in oil prices and the decrease in political freedom, the need for and availability of lobbying diminished. Some private corporations were nationalized under President Putin and, as a result, lost control over their international expansion strategies, with the remaining private corporations being afraid of independent lobbying campaigns abroad. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.