McKinley Conway of Conway Data, a highly respected urban planner who founded the magazine "Site Selection" promoted
Wayports as Airport Cities in an update to his book titled “Airport Cities”. He said Wayports could
be the nucleus of new Airport Cities and “the sites chosen for wayports, however rural
or undeveloped, will instantly become the sites for new towns. Properly planned, the new wayport towns can provide a long
awaited full scale demonstration of the airport city concept”. Airport Cities surrounding Wayports would be beneficial
by providing financial resources for development and operations.
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Conway wrote an article advocating
new Airport Cities. The article is shown under ENDORSEMENTS on this website with comments on VISION
and DEFINITION. Wayports would be Global Centers surrounded by commercial development that over time would become an Airport
City described in the article by Conway. Mac Conway was a visionary. His concepts about new cities with Wayports helping drive
development was available to those now promoting Aerotropolis. A concept paper for a Global
Air Cargo-Industrial Complex written in 1990 by John Kasarda, a promoter of Aerotropolis, stated As planning for
the complex moves forward, consideration should be given for developing a a wayport as a second phase at the site (year 2005-2010)
and a third phase development (year 2010-2015) of short-time business centers, hotels, and recreation facilities to serve
in-transit passengers flowing into and out of the wayport. The wayport would complement the global air cargo-industrial
complex by offering cargo space for smaller load in the bellies of passenger planes frequently flying between the wayport
hub and commercial airports around the country.
A 2003 Reason
Foundation article published in Europe/Asia says Dubai is the perfect Wayport-almost dead center
of the world. It's the largest airport in the world built by United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) an
a location now supporting Aerotropolis. Another names is being used to define the concept but the concept is the
same. Mac Conway is not recognized as the person who originally conceived and advocated new Airport Cities in
books and articles and Wayports is not mentioned in publications by Aerotropolis.
Current
promoters of new cities should cooperate in developing a strategy as to how their projects along with Wayports
might enhance the long-term nationwide airport system including airspace and air traffic control managed by USDOT/FAA. Locations
of new cities are based on whether local officials want one rather than where nationwide airport system capacity is most needed.
This will increase aircraft operations and airport expansion programs causing opposition based on environmental issues like
noise, air emissions and surface congestion.
