Exploit or protect airport regions from urbanization? Assessment of land use restrictions in Amsterdam-Schiphol

Airports are no longer only places for take-off and landing, but increasingly became economic nodes in the urban development of metropolitan areas. Though it is debatable to what extent aviation growth is a cause or effect of economic growth, the reciprocal relationship cannot be denied. Most past developments near airports have been spontaneous and haphazard, but recently regional planners have increasingly included an airport focus. Airport planning aims to find a balance between exploitation of the economic potential and protecting the airport area from congestion and urbanization. This article examines the effects of land-use restriction policies near Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. Within the Schiphol area, only airport-related companies are allowed to establish their business near the airport. These policies have been implemented since 1987, but their success or failure was never evaluated in depth. For the first time empirical results show that land-use restriction policies could ban most of the undesired businesses near the airport. However, despite varieties of implementation and interpretation of the testing, few differences in effects are found. This study shows that airport-relatedness testing is a typically Dutch planning instrument, but can also be useful for other international airports.