We once built cities around harbors or railroad terminals, which led to the familiar shapes of Amsterdam, Venice, New York and Chicago. But the cities built to take advantage of a hyper-competitive global economy are taking shape around something else instead: the airport.

These cities have a name – the aerotropolis – and a godfather, the University of North Carolina professor John D. Kasarda. They’re rising around China, India, and the Middle East as each region prepares to take its place on the world stage. They are to our era of instant gratification – the Instant Age – what terminal cities like downtown Chicago and Manhattan were to America’s Gilded Age in the latter half the 19th Century.

Aerotropolis explores how air travel and transportation are largely responsible for the shape and scope – and winners and losers – of globalization. It also examines how cities such as Hong Kong, Dallas, Detroit and even Dubai are changing (or being built anew) to reflect the interests of corporations that effectively scattered pieces of themselves across the world, relying on the Internet and Airbus planes to tie themselves together. Scheduled for publication on March 8, 2011, Aerotropolis tells the story of how the Jet Age and the Net Age have given way to the Instant Age, and wonders what cities will be its offspring.

Greg Lindsay is available to speak about the aerotropolis and other instant cities. Email him directly to schedule speaking events around the release of Aerotropolis in March 2011. A list of upcoming and past events is below:

Upcoming Events
1. April 2011. Champaign IL. “The Medium is the Message.” TEDxUIllinois.
2. April 11-13, 2011. Memphis, TN. Airport Cities 2011.
3. March-April 2011. Selected U.S. cities. Aerotropolis author tour.
4. October 1, 2010. New York, NY. “Cities and Eco-Crises,” Columbia University.

Past Events
5. August 25-28, 2010. Sao Paulo, Brazil. Medical Travel Meeting Brazil.
6. August 2, 2010. San Carlos, CA. “The Future of Cities,” Singularity University.
7. June 9-10, 2010. Las Vegas, NV. Realcomm 2010.
8. April 21-23, 2010. Beijing, China. Airport Cities 2010.
9. April 1, 2010. Champaign, IL. “A Matter of Life & Death.” TEDxUIllinois.
10. September 15, 2009. Atlanta, GA. “The Evolution of Cities.” TEDxAtlanta.
11. April 28-29, 2009. Taipei, Taiwan. International Aerotropolis Conference.