Schools, sports and leisure facilities, high-end hotels, logistics, housing and even (limited) nightlife options have cropped up around Beijing’s airport, exemplifying a development model called the aerotropolis, which could be our future.

In Aerotropolis, Greg Lindsay explores the ideas of John Kasarda, who travels the world preaching the need for cities to turn to the skies once again. “There’s a new metric,” Lindsay says. “It’s no longer space; it’s time and cost. And if you look closely at the aerotropolis, what appears to be sprawl is slowly evolving into a system reducing both.”

If Kasarda is right, you may soon find yourself in New Songdo. The planned city is being constructed near Seoul’s Incheon airport, promoting itself as a hybrid of Manhattan, Venice and Savannah, Georgia.

New Songdo is being built as a hub for companies that do business in China. You could fly “on a moment’s notice to any of a hundred cities within a four-hour flight and be home in time for supper.” China itself is getting in on the game, building massive new aerotropoli in second-tier cities like Chongqing.

Lindsay describes Kasarda’s world as a place “in which all of our leaders’ promises have been kept, in which we are fitter, happier, more productive,” an unattributed quote from Radiohead’s “Fitter, Happier,” which describes a culture reduced to mindless functionalism. It seems like a safe bet that Lindsay won’t be moving to New Songdo anytime soon.

Aerotropolis is on Taobao for RMB198, plus RMB10 shipping.