Solutions/Cities

Booming Travel Is Transforming Asian Airports Into Mini-Cities

New facilities aim to become destinations in themselves, with apartments, exhibition spaces, and medical centers.

A maintenance worker sweeps inside the terminal building of the new Beijing Daxing International Airport. — A maintenance worker sweeps inside the terminal building of the new Beijing Daxing International Airport.
Photographer: Greg Baker/AFP via Getty Images

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By Bruce Einhorn, Michael Tighe, and Wendy Hu

August 8, 2019 at 9:00 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

This article is part of the August 12, 2019 issue of businessweek.

On the southern fringe of Beijing, a giant starfish-shaped building is about to transform the city’s economy.

The new Beijing Daxing International Airport, which cost 80 billion yuan ($11.3 billion) to build, will be one of the world’s biggest when it opens in September. The Chinese government wants the airport to be a magnet for businesses and an attraction for locals as well as travelers. “The airport paves the way for, and guarantees, Beijing’s long-term economic growth,” says Yu Zhanfu, a partner at consulting firm Roland Berger GmbH. Yu says he expects it to boost the city’s role as a connection point for domestic travelers and those flying abroad.