Welcome to the Aerotropolis(ft.com)
ft.com
Welcome to the Aerotropolis
https://www.ft.com/content/ac175580-a823-11e9-b6ee-3cdf3174eb89
2 comments
> I'm thinking of just about all UK airports
Thankfully Heathrow T2 is one glorious exception to this. Given that I fly most often to German-speaking countries (it's the Lufthansa group terminal), and I really can't abide British Airways, it's the one I use most often. T5 has the reputation for 'grand architecture', by contrast with T2's anonymous exterior - but that experience of walking from the security line right into that big, open split level space, full of daylight and a clear view right onto the tarmac (no forced march through a labyrinthine duty-free emporium) is an absolute joy every time I pass through. Just occasionally, for reasons of money or timings, I find myself going through Gatwick or Stansted and feel like a lab rat in some horrific experiment to see how much stress the subjects can take before they start biting each other.
Thankfully Heathrow T2 is one glorious exception to this. Given that I fly most often to German-speaking countries (it's the Lufthansa group terminal), and I really can't abide British Airways, it's the one I use most often. T5 has the reputation for 'grand architecture', by contrast with T2's anonymous exterior - but that experience of walking from the security line right into that big, open split level space, full of daylight and a clear view right onto the tarmac (no forced march through a labyrinthine duty-free emporium) is an absolute joy every time I pass through. Just occasionally, for reasons of money or timings, I find myself going through Gatwick or Stansted and feel like a lab rat in some horrific experiment to see how much stress the subjects can take before they start biting each other.
Good to know that Heathrow T2 is an exception, I may use that knowledge next time I fly to the UK. We mostly fly in & out of Gatwick (proximity to family, and it's an EasyJet hub) but I'm glad I'm not the only one who gets the feeling it's artificially designed to be the most stressful experience possible.
This is meant as a rhetorical question, as if those things didn't exist in cities. They don't in many western cities, certainly, but Japanese cities do quite well on all 3 counts, as does Taipei if memory serves.
Interestingly, while apparently ignoring Asian cities, the article and photos focus specifically on Asian airports. Many western ones are outright hostile to travellers. I'm thinking of just about all UK airports, but for example Berlin Tegel is also pretty awful. They're neither architecturally grand, nor do they in any way resemble traditional public spaces.