This is what London's Heathrow airport would look like as a futuristic city

Share All sharing options for: This is what London's Heathrow airport would look like as a futuristic city

London's Heathrow Airport is one of the world's busiest airports, serving 72.3 million travelers in 2013 alone, and demand for more flights is only growing. But in the near future, it could be replaced entirely with a city of 190,000 people. At least if London Mayor Boris Johnson gets his way.

In order to keep up with skyrocketing demand projected for Heathrow into 2050s, Johnson years ago began advocating that Heathrow be closed and a new airport be built 40 miles east on a rural island in the Thames Estuary. He's faced tremendous opposition from national politicians in the UK, and the latest environmental studies appear to have all but grounded the proposal. Still, the London Mayor's Office has gone ahead and commissioned three outlandishly ambitious proposals from leading architectural firms for what to do with the area now occupied by Heathrow if it does end up moving.