The invention of airports: A political, economic and technological history of airports in the United States, 1919-1939

The development of commercial aviation required the creation of a network of specialized facilities--"airports"--dedicated not just to takeoffs and landings but also to the efficient transfer of people and goods from air to ground, from one geographic area to another. This dissertation is about the "invention" of airports in the United States which occurred in the twenty years between the two World Wars. During this period most Americans came to believe that the airplane was unable to achieve its commercial potential without an elaborate infrastructure. The value of the airplane was not its potential to go "anywhere" as many aviation enthusiasts suggested. Rather, it was the fact that the airplane could be scheduled to go "somewhere"--somewhere Americans already wanted to go.;This dissertation is divided into three interrelated parts in order to analyze the dynamic interplay among the political, economic and technological forces that gave rise to the modern airport. Part I, "The Politics of Airports," describes the quarter-century debate that resulted in a federally-dominated technocracy in control of the nation's airports. Part II, "The Economics of Airports," traces the complex history of how airports and the airport system was financed. There was a revolution in American public sentiment during this period that resulted in substantial public investment for the development of commercial aviation. Part III, "The Technology of Airports," is a history of technological design. The establishment of both an airport design and a group of airport experts was the product of social negotiation among engineers, architects, and city planners, as well as government officials.;Despite the enormous popularity of aviation history, there are few studies of airports. Of these, most concentrate on one airport, even a single part of the airport (e.g. terminals). This work differs radically in approach, mainly focused on the historical significance of the "invention of airports" to urban and industrial development. Aviation both shaped and was shaped by the transformation of the American economic, political, and social order in this century--a fact most clearly revealed in the history of airports.