Memphis Mayor Willie W. Herenton is right.

A city with aspirations of greatness must invest in state-of-the-art facilities that contribute to our economic growth and quality of life.

And that’s what should place our attention on the airport. Not a football stadium.

Hyperreality Or Hyperbole

Already, the concept of Memphis International Airport as the heart of the U.S.’s first real aerotropolis is at risk of becoming an exercise in hyperbole, but the truth is that there’s no single piece of the regional infrastructure that deserves more serious study and a more detailed comprehensive plan for the future.

The aerotropolis is a planning concept invented and refined in Asia where huge, new international airports were treated as the “downtown” of a new city with major new development radiating out from the core. Here, Denver is probably the strongest U.S. example, because its new airport – on 34,500 acres of land – has attracted 25 percent of the Denver metro’s growth in recent years.

That said, the aerotropolis works best in Asia because there is such density of population, and in the U.S., as Denver shows, it runs the risk of becoming just another multi-billion dollar propulsion for sprawl. That’s why the last thing that Memphis probably needs right now is a new airport built in keeping with the Denver model – built in a greenfield location from downtown and connected by toll roads and light rail.

Emerging

Memphis has been named one of a handful of U.S. cities with the potential to become an aerotropolis, and it’s been said that we have a rudimentary version already emerging. Within that context, some key questions are how do we create an aerotropolis using the existing airport as its center and how can it be created in a way that produces higher value for the neighborhoods and commercial corridors?

It’s no small matter for Memphis’ future. According to the 2006 Annual Report of the Memphis and Shelby County Airport Authority, MEM creates an annual economic impact of $21.7 billion with one in four jobs linked to it. If Memphis is to stake a claim as the U.S.’s leading aerotropolis – and to define it in a way that serves our overall city interests – it requires new thinking and serious planning to begin now.

That’s because we have to make sure that all of the conversation about the aerotropolis is more than just conversation. It has to be more than this year’s catchy concept. It has to be more than just a convenient way to reposition the airport. It has to be a “real” plan of action that most importantly addresses the unpleasant experience of Memphis International Airport when compared to its rivals and the ways to reinvigorate the adjacent neighborhoods.

A First Step

The renovated and reinvented rotunda of shopping and eating in Concourse B was a step in the right direction and a major improvement. But the same attention to improving the customer experience now needs to extend to the lobby which feels especially cramped and the concourses which, when compared to other airports, feel claustrophobic and dated.

The once striking impression made by the airport’s architecture has largely been obliterated by unattractive parking garages and expansive swaths of asphalt. While many cities have put money into beautifying the approach and the setting of the airport, Memphis’ commitment to efficient operations has always trumped quality of place and attractiveness.

Getting Memphis International Airport from its current state to a better customer experience as one of the nation’s best wouldn’t come cheap. But then again, a major new airport could cost $5-10 billion (the new Denver airport costs $5 billion), making it obvious that an investment in an airport upgrade would cost several times more than FedEx Forum, but it would still be much less than a new facility.

Not Just A Better Airport

If Memphis wants to build the equivalent of a new city – the aerotropolis – it couldn’t be more timely for the Whitehaven area whose decline seems to be picking up momentum in its inevitability. But success will require an alignment of interests, resources and priorities that would be historic in this city.

That’s why it has to be clear from the beginning that the aerotropolis isn’t a way to invest in a better airport, but a better urban community recreated around it.

It’s a tall order, but if you’ve wandered from the ghastly commercial corridors and driven into the neighborhoods, it’s no secret to you that the area has some appealing residential areas scattered on an undulating terrain. These are largely African-American, middle-class neighborhoods which have done a remarkable job of fighting for their lives in the midst of the commercial and retail decline.

That Hollow Feeling

Already, Memphis is competing for the dubious title of the most hollowed out U.S. city as the middle class moves to surrounding cities and counties. As homeowners vote with their feet, Memphis is now seeing the flight of the black middle class.

Aerotropolis aside, if there’s any section of Memphis where all of the city’s resources and all of its resolve should be on display for the world to see, it is Whitehaven. Until city and federal governments conspired to allow substandard housing and dozens of apartment complexes into the proud single-family areas, Whitehaven was the paragon of the American Dream (despite its unfortunate name). Those days 35 years ago are almost impossible to imagine these days.

So, before aerotropolis becomes just another buzzword, the interest of Memphis Regional Chamber and Memphis and Shelby County Airport Authority need to be backed up with the significant civic support that can make sure something happens. That begins in City Hall, and it’s lots more important than a new football stadium.