How did the Aerotropolis vision come to be?
The idea that Detroit Metropolitan Airport could generate economic activity outside its boundaries has been around for almost two decades, and was enhanced by Northwest Airlines choosing Detroit as a hub of operations. Only in the past 4 years have we attempted to bring together all the relevant stakeholders to advance the project on a regional level. 10 entities including 7 local governments, Wayne County and Washtenaw County, and the Airport Authority signed a memorandum of understanding to advance the Aerotropolis concept in 2006. In 2007, we formed a Task Force that included members of the private sector, and then merged the Task Force with our government partnership. Since then, the Aerotropolis concept has moved more from vision to implementation, resulting in the proposed creation of an Aerotropolis Development Corporation to permanently institutionalize the effort.
