March 2004 saw the beginning of the Beijing Capital International Airport expansion construction project. With a budget of 27 billion yuan, the expanded construction project includes a third terminal and runways, a parking building, a traffic control center and relevant technologically advanced facilities.

Will the new airport meet the requirements for the 2008 Olympic Games? In an interview with Beijing Review North American special correspondent Zong Xing, Dr.John Kasarda, Director of the Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an expert on aviation infrastructure and logistics, shared his views on China's airport construction and airport economy.

Beijing Review: As an expert on airport construction, you are widely regarded as the creator of the concept "Aerotropolis." What does an "Aerotropolis" look like?

John Kasarda: To be honest, I'm not the creator but an elaborator of "Aerotropolis"; maybe I'm considered its creator because I've done much more than others in promoting it since the mid-1990s.

The first time I heard "Aerotropolis" was in 1994 when I was working on a new airport development strategy with officials in Zhuhai, southern part of China.

An "Aerotropolis" is an aviation-linked urban form consisting of an airport surrounded by tens of thousands of acres of single and multiple-family housing, office space, light industrial space, restaurants, upscale retail mix, hotel accommodations, entertainment venues, and even golf courses.