What facilitates innovation in Aerotropolises?

Purpose Governments and airports worldwide are increasingly interested in promoting innovation growth in their Aerotropolis developments – large-scale, master-planned developments around airports. The mainstream academic concept and industry practices in Aerotropolis planning use a cluster-based model with a sprawling built environment and industry composition that lack considerations in knowledge base and skills-relatedness. This study applies Boschma’s Proximity Theory for Innovation to critically assess to what extent these might not be the ideal urban design and industry composition to stimulate innovation effectively. Design/methodology/approach A mixed-methods methodology utilising online surveys and interviews was conducted in 2022 with entrepreneurs and staff from ten industries across nine Aerotropolises, asking about their experiences of inter-industry ideas exchange and innovations in their Aerotropolises and evaluations towards what could be improved in the built environment, industry composition and in general, to facilitate inter-industry ideas exchange. Findings Results show that an urbanised built environment and a co-location of skills-related industries from a common knowledge base facilitate inter-industry ideas exchange, subsequently promoting innovation. This aligns with the theoretical understanding that geographical and cognitive proximity support innovative processes. Additionally, a genuine community atmosphere inside the Aerotropolis supports innovation. Originality/value This study approaches the largely under-researched topic of innovation dynamics in the Aerotropolis context. Insights from this study provoke researchers and governments to rethink the current Aerotropolis urban development model and offer an alternative that fosters innovation.