Nikkei Asian Review. The Zhengzhou Model

Chances are that shiny new iPhone 6 was made in Zhengzhou – a city few people outside China have heard of. Yet this city of around 5 million is home to China’s third airport city. Foxconn, makers of Apple’s iPhone, are an early draw and the zone now produces 12.5% of the world’s smartphones. “Zhengzhou’s strong position as a trading and transportation hub in China, along with pro-business policies as part of the national blueprint to build an airport-based economic zone in the provincial city, as well as access to a large labor pool, make Zhengzhou an attractive location for investment and establishment of local operations” said a Foxconn Technology Group spokesperson.

“An airport city is an airport based urban commercial complex whose activities are heavily leveraged by runway connected passenger and cargo terminals. In short it’s a city built around runways” say Professor John Kasarda from the University of North Carolina who developed the idea of the aerotropolis.

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