Right of Way - January/February2019

The use of gathering places and working with informal networking are key components of a social ecology approach to infrastructure projects. In order to make these concepts more visible, we decided to share a story about an infrastructure approval process that delivered the vote for the Denver International Airport (DIA) to be built at its present location. The project involved a formal campaign that was being waged to secure voter approval for obtaining the land upon which to build the airport. At the 11th hour, with only five weeks to go before the election, the pro-annexation campaign was trailing in the polls by five percentage points. If nothing changed, there would be no new airport.

This is the story of how Denver International Airport got political, social and cultural alignment that allowed it to be built at its current site. According to the Denver Post newspaper, “The Colorado General Assembly brokered a deal in 1985 to annex a 40+ acre plot of land in Adams County into the city of Denver, and use that land to build a new airport. Adams County voters approved the plan in a referendum in November 1988.”