Megalo(mania)polis: Clusters and their Extravagances

The central aim of this project is to study discourses on urban clusters as manifested in economic geographical literature, promotional documents and in other media, with a particular focus on the new concept of airport cities and how extravagant the communication around such self-claimed centers of excellence tends to be. The plan includes both a general discourse analysis of academic literature and case studies of airport cities – starting with Helsinki-Vantaa’s Aviapolis and Dubai’s Jebel Ali airport city.