THE SCHOOL OF CITY AND REGIONAL PLANNING

GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

Under the provisions of the regulations for the degree

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY 

on Thursday, December 15, 2016
10:00 AM to 12:00 PM

in the GIS Conference Room 203
760 Spring Street

will be held the

DISSERTATION PROPOSAL DEFENSE
 
for
 
Peter James Hylton

“E-Retail Effects on Airports and Regional Development”
 
The Examiners Are:

Dr. Catherine L. Ross, Chair

Dr. Subhrajit Guhathakurta

Dr. Alan Erera 

Faculty and students are invited to attend this examination.

Abstract:

Electronic retail (e-retail) today accounts for nearly 10% of American retail sales, and its share of sales is rapidly growing.  Both e-retail and brick-and-mortar (B&M) retail sales channels rely on behind-the-scenes logistics facilities to complete sales. However, e-retail’s need for fast, small, and short-notice deliveries to customers’ doorsteps requires a total reconfiguration of the distribution network. In many instances e-retail focuses on airport-centric express carrier transportation networks.  E-retail logistics has the potential to change air cargo demand among airports and to provide a subset of airport regions with greater development potential and that can better accommodate increasing e-retail activity. The paradigm shift in retail logistics has implications for airport planning, regional economic development, and landside freight infrastructure.

This proposal outlines a dissertation that explores the patterns and associations guiding America’s e-retail logistics geography, particularly with regard to the profile of e-retail hub regions and the mechanisms driving their status.  Theory suggests a complex relationship between e-retail and airports, with intervening variables, bidirectional influence, and a multifaceted context.  Therefore, this study undertakes three analyses that each examine a different aspect of the airport – e-retail relationship.  The first analysis uses regression analyses and other analytics to examine national-scale interactions between regional airport and air connectivity characteristics, and regional activity in e-retail and brick-and-mortar (B&M) logistics.  The second analysis surveys managers of e-retail and B&M logistics facilities to examine differences in how they value and plan airports and the resulting air cargo characteristics.  The third analysis examines if and how airports are responding to e-retail by studying cargo and e-retail’s inclusion and level of development in airport master plans.  The case study airports are selected based on different levels of actual and potential e-retail cargo.

Together these three analyses provide new information on the airport – e-retail relationship.  We may be able to better identify airports and regions likely to experience e-retail cargo growth and better accommodate e-retail logistics.