With air travel long surpassing road, sea and railway as the preferred mode of transport, it makes sense that Africa’s first airport city or aerotropolis be located in Ekurhuleni, which is home to OR Tambo International, the continent’s largest airport.

University of North Carolina professor, Johan Kasarda, coined the term aerotropolis to refer to cities built around an airport. In the current era of globalisation, he sees the aerotropolis as the logical next step for cities and people to link to each other and transform the way they conduct business.

GIBB Director of Urban and Rural Planning, Nico Kriek, who recently travelled to Denver (another airport city) in the United States to attend the Airport Cities World Conference 2012, says it makes sense to develop airports as international hubs as they provide the opportunity to make contact with the rest of the world on a daily basis and en masse.

“An aerotropolis is all about connectivity and accessibility. Business people can fly in from around the world and conduct business without leaving the building. Everything they need is at their fingertips – accommodation, technology, conference facilities, shopping destinations and entertainment,” says Kriek.

An example of a successful aerotropolis is Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport and, says Kriek, Frankfurt is following suit. “Frankfurt International Airport has established what is regarded as the largest office building in the world. This was as a result of financial giant, KPMG, wanting to move its European head offices close to an airport. Today, the move has become part of the city’s greater vision to maintain its competitive edge as a world financial hub and capture global business. The building is more like a mini-town under one roof and, conveniently, has a railway station located under it,” he says.

There is the potential for Rhodesfield Station at OR Tambo to evolve into an aerotropolis when the Gautrain project was being developed. “While the site does present some challenges such as accessibility, they are not insurmountable,” says Kriek.

With direct flights to many of the world’s major cities, Kriek says that OR Tambo is becoming the logical gateway for the entire African continent. “Today Dubai claims this status, but it is not located in Africa. Nevertheless, it will always represent competition for us,” he says.

The airport is the engine of any aerotropolis and must be a technologically advanced and smooth running operation. Kriek says an aerotropolis is built out from the airport like the rings of an onion. “Supporting services need to address the needs of international business and tourist communities. Everything needs to be easily accessible and staff members (including customs officials) need to be welcoming and offer top-class service,” he says.

He sees the possibility of Sandton forming part of the aerotropolis, which would require that Sandton, Ekurhuleni and ACSA work closely together to ensure a competitive edge. “The most important thing about an aerotropolis is the ability to capture the time advantage and Sandton is only 12 minutes away from the airport via the Gautrain,” he says.

In addition to attending the conference in Denver, Kriek visited Memphis, to see another aerotropolis in the making. “Memphis is centrally located in the United States and home to FedEx Express, which receives and distributes up to 1.5-million parcels every night over a three-hour window period that commences at midnight – to avoid disruption of day-time passenger flights. Memphis sees the development of an aerotropolis as a way of boosting a declining economy,” he says.

The trip to Denver and Memphis formed part of a fact-finding mission for GIBB and other private sector parties, who see themselves playing a significant role in the development of airport cities. “GIBB has extensive experience developing Port Harcourt, the capital of Rivers State in southern Nigeria, which is really an aerotropolis although it was never named as such.

“To me, it’s a no-brainer. Developing OR Tambo into an aerotropolis will ensure South Africa remains abreast of global business and transport trends. In addition, it will represent an important mechanism for opening Africa up to the rest of the world,” says Kriek.

 

The World Bank’s Africa Energy Unit (AFTEG) estimates that 25 of Africa’s 54 nations face an energy crisis, but GIBB General Manager of Power and Energy, Paul Fitzsimons, wonders whether the continent is facing an insurmountable energy crisis or whether its current predicament is merely confirmation that Africa is poised for massive economic development and growth.

“A major factor of productivity and economic growth since the Industrial Revolution was the substitution of energy from human and animal labour, to water and wind power and then to electric power and internal combustion. Since then, power expansion has been driven by continuous improvement in energy conversion efficiencies.

“The truth is the continent’s planned increase in power consumption is perhaps evidence that it is on the verge of a significant economic upswing pattern and despite conventional energy savings, consumption will change in line with new technology and demand sources,” says Fitzsimons.

He cites data processing as an example. “In the US it is estimated that data processing centres and server farms represents almost half of the total electricity consumed in South Africa,” he says.

Another example is electric vehicles. “Demand for these vehicles would mean having to establish the necessary infrastructure to service them and we would have to consider the associated changes in electrical power demand,” says Fitzsimons.

Of course, the United Nations’ Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, was right when he stated in his personal foreword to the “Sustainable Energy for All Framework for Action” that access to energy is the golden thread that connects economic growth.

This sentiment was recently reinforced by Deputy Minister for the Department of Energy, Ms Barbara Thompson, who in her address to the Energy Indaba on 15 March 2012 said “development is not possible without energy and sustainable development is not possible without sustainable energy”.

She pointed out that; “energy is critical in improving the well-being of the poor who need it for cooking and lighting, heating water, transportation and the production of goods and services. Energy access affects the quality of life by contributing to better public services, such as health care and education, and improving the possibilities for income generation and employment.”

In her address on 6 March, the Minister of Energy, Ms Dipuo Peters, announced that 2012 would be the “Year of Access to Energy” and March 2012 “Energy Month”, in line with the United Nations’ “Sustainable Energy for All Framework for Action”.

So, with the focus firmly on energy this year, how do we – as a country – ensure a bright outcome?

Fitzsimons says there are two major threads to the country’s energy developmental plans. “Social access is the one, for example household electrification in deep rural areas and industrial development the other. There needs to be a balance of these – we need economic growth to help fund social development and we need social development with the resultant improved health and education etc. to provide the knowledge workers for tomorrow’s industries.

“In order not to constrain growth, we must do two things in unison. Firstly, we need to diversify and increase supply as per the Integrated Resource Plan 2010. In addition, we need to look at innovative options such as community based and off -grid supply. A good example of this is in the establishment of Namibia’s first solar town at Tsumkwe, which relies extensively on photovoltaic electricity.

“Secondly, we need to proactively manage the demand side, which means reducing consumption and being energy efficient. As prices increase, economics will dictate that demand side initiatives become more of a bottom line business imperative than an altruistic issue,” says Fitzsimons.

A bright outcome is possible if everyone’s efforts – government, business and ordinary South Africans – are focused on creating a future underwritten by sustainable energy. And, says Fitzsimons, GIBB is positioned to play a role in this by supporting both the public and private sectors with their existing energy initiatives and by helping to develop creative alternative solutions such as those cited above.