Airport–Industry–City Integrated Accessibility Using Big Data Case View from Beijing Capital International Airport

Abstract

Big data technology can help collect, analyze, and process large-scale transportation, population, economic, and other relevant data, which has been proven to be more accurate in assessing the accessibility of different areas. An aerotropolis is composed of the airport as the core, airport-related industry as the link, and the airport-oriented city as the carrier, airport–industry–city (AIC) system. To better grasp the development quality of aerotropolises, an AIC integrated accessibility measurement model is constructed comprising the accessibility of airport route network, airport ground traffic, and airport information coverage. Using big data of traffic, network and information from 2001 to 2020, we apply the model to the Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK) aerotropolis. The results show that PEK’s AIC connectivity exceeded 1 for the first time in 2008, reaching 1.0890, which the range of the scale is [0, +∞]. It fluctuated significantly from 2017 to 2020, showing a double life-cycle S-curve. So, the PEK aerotropolis’ development can be divided into four stages: germination (before 2001), high-speed development (2002–2011), gradual formation (2012–2019), and “seeking change in the process of change” (after 2020). Our model offers a new tool for identifying the development stages of aerotropolises and for improving connectivity—namely, improving the accessibility of the airport node network, the layout of airside-preferring enterprises, and the network structure of new Internet-based airport cities. Obviously, the AIC integrated accessibility can indeed guide the scientific development of an aerotropolis.