G Edlins FINAL
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FROM THE GROUND UP: CONCEPTUALIZING THE SPACE OF LOS ANGELES COMMERCIAL AEROMOBILITY by Geoffrey Edlins A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the University of Delaware in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Urban Affairs and Public Policy Spring 2014 © 2014 Geoffrey Edlins All Rights Reserved UMI Number: 3631172 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UMI 3631172 Published by ProQuest LLC (2014). Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, MI 48106 - 1346 FROM THE GROUND UP: CONCEPTUALIZING THE SPACE OF LOS ANGELES COMMERCIAL AEROMOBILITY by Geoffrey Edlins Approved: __________________________________________________________ Maria P. Aristigueta, D.P.A. Director of School of Public Policy and Administration Approved: __________________________________________________________ George H. Watson, Ph.D. Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Approved: __________________________________________________________ James G. Richards, Ph.D. Vice Provost for Graduate and Professional Education I certify that I have read this dissertation and that in my opinion it meets the academic and professional standard required by the University as a dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Signed: __________________________________________________________ Robert Warren, Ph.D. Professor in charge of dissertation I certify that I have read this dissertation and that in my opinion it meets the academic and professional standard required by the University as a dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Signed: __________________________________________________________ David L. Ames, Ph.D. Member of dissertation committee I certify that I have read this dissertation and that in my opinion it meets the academic and professional standard required by the University as a dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Signed: __________________________________________________________ Jonathan B. Justice, Ph.D. Member of dissertation committee I certify that I have read this dissertation and that in my opinion it meets the academic and professional standard required by the University as a dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Signed: __________________________________________________________ Mitchell L. Moss, Ph.D. Member of dissertation committee ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am most appreciative for Dr. Robert Warren, my committee chair. You have given me seemingly boundless insight and guidance at all points throughout the dissertation process. I would also like to thank the rest of my committee — Drs. Ames, Justice, and Moss — for your feedback and patience. I'm more proud of my work here because you stand behind it. I owe a special thanks to the friends I made at the University of Delaware. Bakry, I count your friendship as the most valuable thing I earned in Newark. Todd, thank you for showing me what it means to get things done. Michele, I wish everybody believed in me as you do. Kate, there never was a better roommate: I bike better, eat better, and live better than I did before we began splitting a rent check. I give thanks also to the support of old friends. Joseph, many of the ideas contained in these pages first took hold during conversations we've had going back over a decade. Nathan, there are many places throughout the dissertation where I'd think, "Nate would want a little more information here. And he'd be right." Amy, I (we) deeply appreciate your support not only of this project, but of all the others in my (our) life. Mom and dad, without your love and support I would not have done nearly so much, nearly so well. Matt and Justin, thank you for being such good brothers and friends to me throughout our lives. iv Finally, I'll be forever grateful to (and for) the Edlins family. Mariglynn, you are everything I could ever hope for in a best friend. Bergen, you are everything we could ever wish for in a child. v TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................... ix ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................. xi Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND ....................................................... 1 Defining a Relational Urbanism ......................................................................... 9 Defining an Aerial Urbanism ........................................................................... 18 Defining the Region ......................................................................................... 23 Background of Los Angeles ............................................................................. 26 Datasets ............................................................................................................. 30 Organizing the Research ................................................................................... 31 2 REVIEW OF AERIAL-RELATED LITERATURE ........................................ 34 Conceptualizing the City-Region ..................................................................... 34 Measuring Interurban Relationships ................................................................. 39 Placing Airports within Urban Studies ............................................................. 45 Airports as Urban Nodes ............................................................................ 47 Air Routes as Urban Networks ................................................................... 52 Relating Aeromobility and Immobility ............................................................ 57 Conceptions of Airspace and Aerial-Spatiality .......................................... 60 Analyzing Los Angeles .................................................................................... 63 3 AERIAL CONNECTIONS VIA LAX ............................................................. 68 Introduction ...................................................................................................... 68 Measuring Aeriality .......................................................................................... 74 Strategy Landscapes ......................................................................................... 76 Deregulating Production ............................................................................. 76 Fueling Strategy .......................................................................................... 80 vi Passenger Distributions over Distance ............................................................. 83 Description of Distance Distribution Tables .................................................... 83 Analysis of Distance Distribution Tables ......................................................... 86 Gateway Airports ........................................................................................ 86 Western Airports ........................................................................................ 90 Los Angeles City-Regional Airports .......................................................... 93 Comparing LAX from 1990 to 2011 .......................................................... 97 Los Angeles within Shifting Domestic Aerial Networks ............................... 100 Los Angeles within Global Aerial Networks ................................................. 105 Latin America and the Caribbean ............................................................. 105 Asia & the Middle East ............................................................................ 107 Australasia ................................................................................................ 111 Europe ....................................................................................................... 113 Conclusion ...................................................................................................... 114 4 THE EL TORO REUSE STRUGGLE ........................................................... 120 Introduction .................................................................................................... 120 Regionalization ............................................................................................... 124 A Brief History ......................................................................................... 124 New England Air Traffic Regionalization ............................................... 127 Los Angeles City-Regional Airports .............................................................. 131 San Bernardino International Airport ....................................................... 134 The Southern California Logistics Airport ............................................... 134 MCAS El Toro ............................................................................................... 137 MCAS El Toro Background ..................................................................... 139 Regional Stakeholders .............................................................................