在速度经济时代，机场已经成为全球生产和商业活动的重要结点，也是带动地区经济发展的引擎，它不断地吸引着众多的与航空业相关的行业聚集到其周围。随着越来越多的商业企业在机场以及交通走廊周围集聚，一种新型的城市出现了：航空大都市。

 

Aerotropolis refers to a city in which the layout, infrastructure, and economy are centered around a major airport.

“航空大都市”指的是城市设计、基础设施和经济形式都以大型机场为中心的城市。

 

This word combines the prefix aero-, “relating to airplanes and aviation” and the word metropolis, “a large city.” It’s also called an aviation city or an airport city.

这一单词结合了前缀aero-（与飞机和航空有关）和单词metropolis（大都市），也称为航空城市或机场城市。

 

In its purest form, the aerotropolis is an economic hub that extends out from a large airport into a surrounding area that consists mostly of distribution centers, office buildings, light manufacturing firms, convention centers, and hotels, all linked to the airport via roads, expressways (aerolinks), and rail lines (aerotrains).

在最简单的形式中，“航空大都市”是从一个大型机场向周边地区延伸出的经济中心，主要由配送中心、写字楼、轻工制造公司、会展中心、酒店等组成。所有设施都通过道路和高速公路与机场相连。

 

This business-centered version of the aerotropolis is also called an air-commerce cluster or an airport cluster.

“航空大都市”的这种商业中心形式也称为“航空商务聚落”或者“机场集群”。