Xiamen is building its new airport. It will have a super capacity of 62 million passengers and one million metric tonnes of cargo annual throughput by the Year 2030. Like many airports in China, it is also planning its airport city which immediately surrounds the airport.

For Xiamen, the new airport is located on an island, taking up half of the island’s area. The other half is being planned as the core area of Xiamen’s new airport city.

The local authorities currently have approved a master plan for this core area. It is quite tentative and lacks development. After an in-depth analysis of the site conditions, Xiamen City’s overall road system network, and how the new airport will impact not just Xiamen’s old city but also the entire economic region, SAAN’s design team offered some master plan enhancement.

We suggested making four important road and bridge connections crossing the sea channel to the airport, each with specific roles and functions. We recommended the separation of the airport’s fast access from the airport city’s slow local roads and streets. We strongly recommend reserving enough greenbelt and open spaces to maintain low density and allow for future growth. We also provided detailed suggestions for creating cultural and resort zones, which will give Xiamen Airport City unique characteristics from any other airport city in the world.