Governing an Airport Region in China: The Case of Ezhou Huahu Airport

ABSTRACTAirport-related development raises important city-regional planning and governance issues. The paper examines the development of a new Chinese airport and associated changes in nearby cities. Ezhou Huahu Airport was initiated by one of China's largest delivery and logistics companies. The analysis focuses on the development patterns, growing visions, and changing governance around the airport as well as how the provincial government plays a crucial role in governing the airport region. Furthermore, the study highlights regional coordination manifested in various institutional forms, which warrants solid implementation through regional plans and regional institutions for dispute settlement.摘要与机场相关的发展引发了重要的城市与区域规划和治理问题。本文探讨了中国一个新机场的发展以及附近城市的相关变化。鄂州花湖机场由中国最大的快递和物流公司之一发起。分析的重点是机场周边的发展模式、增长愿景和不断变化的治理，以及省政府如何在机场区域治理中发挥关键作用。此外，研究还强调了以各种制度形式体现的区域协调，这需要通过区域规划和区域争端解决机构来扎实落实。KEYWORDS: Aerotropolisairport regionregional coordinationcity-regional governanceChina AcknowledgementsThe authors thank the editor and anonymous reviewers for their comments and suggestions. The authors are also grateful to amongst others Julie Cidell, Yi Li, Bo-sin Tang, and Fan Zhang for their comments at various stages of this research. All remaining errors are the authors' own.Disclosure StatementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Additional informationFundingThis work was supported by Hong Kong Research Grant Council [grant number 17600918, 27604016] and National Natural Science Foundation of China [grant number 42101181, 41501177].