Spatial planning and airport regions: a critical review of governance, territorial tensions and development pressures

ABSTRACT Airports increasingly function as territorial agents (shaping land use, influencing governance, and driving regional transformation). Their spatial impacts raise complex planning challenges. Drawing on 86 peer-reviewed sources published between 1997 and 2025, this study extends earlier reviews by incorporating post-COVID research and emerging debates on climate resilience, urban air mobility, and airport governance. Four thematic domains guide the synthesis: (i) planning frameworks and conceptual foundations; (ii) airport-regional dynamics, including economic, social, and environmental impacts; (iii) governance and institutional coordination; and (iv) emerging planning challenges, such as climate adaptation and advanced air mobility. The review adopts a thematic, qualitative approach rather than a systematic bibliometric method, emphasizing conceptual depth and policy relevance. The findings show that spatial planning systems often struggle to anticipate or manage the multi-scalar impacts of airport development, especially where governance structures are misaligned. Airports can catalyse regional change but also exacerbate spatial inequality and land-use conflict. The review concludes with a research agenda that prioritizes anticipatory governance, equity-centred planning, and the integration of spatial justice into airport-region development. By reframing airports as socio-territorial infrastructures embedded within multi-scalar governance systems, this study contributes to a more holistic understanding of how airports shape contemporary urban and regional geographies.