Our Projects |
Aerotropolis Threat Increasing The aerotropolis is alive and well in the minds of city planners and consultants who have recently declared it to be "feasible and justified" and the centre of Hamilton's economic future. Council approved continued plans for the scheme in late June. In this issue, we examine the fuzzy thinking behind this highly problematic proposal which openly contradicts the city's official vision of sustainability, swallows thousands of acres of prime agricultural land, disrupts the headwaters of four major streams. Despite an attempted name change, the scheme remains based on a pollyanna view of the future of air travel that seems entirely disconnected from a world confronted by climate change and peak oil. Its promise of future jobs is dubious, especially the kind of employment that Hamilton needs, and the still uncalculated infrastructure servicing costs appear likely to further compromise the city's tenuous long-term financial situation. The latest moves are now also specifically abandoning the bayfront industrial lands - assuming no possibility of job improvements there and leaving the cleanup of contaminated properties to some future generation in favour of what the city's consultants are calling a "clean slate" on the far southern edge of the city that is the key to finally reversing the city's 30 year downward employment figures. Not surprisingly, we have gotten this far through a deeply flawed process that has largely excluded the public and blocked intelligent debate on the wisdom of this grand scheme. Unfortunately, that exclusionary approach continues to dominate the current process. |