ABSTRACT
As airports transfer from state to private ownership (the result of the worldwide trend towards airport deregulation and removal of government subsidies), the new owners have begun to recognize the importance of the physical masterplan in realizing the land assets at airports. Much land at the
perimeter of airports has in the past been poorly used, but under new management the potential for development has tended to be seized. New non-governmental airports tend to see peripheral land as a means of raising cash to subsidize improvements elsewhere, perhaps to terminals or runways. The masterplan helps in realizing the capital tied up in the land itself by identifying surplus land and by creating the right balance of adjoining land uses and infrastructure to maximize its value. The masterplan is therefore both a technical statement of potential and a means of raising expectations and worth, which helps in increasing the valuation of land assets. BAA’s use of masterplanning around Glasgow Airport is a notable example of planning-led land utilization and asset enhancement.
