Land use policy in the vicinity of airports: Analysis and lessons learned from the Brazilian situation

Abstract

Aircraft noise is one of the main environmental impacts associated with airports operation. Evidence suggests that sensitivity to aircraft noise is increasing. Besides the expected growth in air transportation, conflicts between airports and communities living in its surroundings are expected to increase also if not action is taken. Land-use regulation is one of the tools used to mitigate these impacts and allow the evolution of Civil Aviation minimizing adverse reactions from people living in airport surroundings. Traditionally, this regulation is done by defining land-use restrictions around airports, based on noise contours. However, these restrictions are often not enforced in practice because of cost-related issues and lack of coordination between the various stakeholders involved. Even when they are correctly implemented, they have not avoided noise-related conflicts in many cases, which indicates possible limitations of this approach. This article intends to suggest possible improvements to the process of land-use planning around airports. For that, the framework for land-use policy definitions around Brazilian airports will be used as a case study, from which are drawn recommendations and lessons-learned that may be generally applicable to other countries