  (Abridged) Infrared high-resolution imaging and interferometry have shown
that the dust distribution is frequently elongated along the polar direction of
an AGN. To explain these findings, we developed a model scenario for the inner
~30 pc of an AGN. We assume a rotating thick gas disk between about one and ten
parsec. External gas accretion adds mass and injects energy via gas compression
into this gas disk and drives turbulence. Our disks are assumed to be strongly
magnetized via equipartition between the turbulent gas pressure and the energy
density of the magnetic field. In a second step, we built three dimensional
density cubes based on the analytical model, illuminated them with a central
source, and made radiative transfer calculations. In a third step, we
calculated MIR visibility amplitudes and compared them to available
interferometric observations. We show that magnetocentrifugal winds starting
from a thin and thick gas disk are viable in active galaxy centers. Once the
wind is launched, it is responsible for the transport of angular momentum and
the gas disk can become thin. The outflow scenario can account for the
elongated dust structures, outer edges of the thin maser disks, and molecular
outflows observed in local AGN. The models reproduce the observed terminal wind
velocities, the scatter of the MIR/intrinsic X-ray correlation, and point
source fractions. An application of the model to the Circinus Galaxy and NGC
1068 shows that the IR SED, available MIR interferometric observations, and
optical polarization can be reproduced in a satisfactory way, provided that (i)
a puff-up at the inner edge of the thin disk is present and (ii) a local screen
with an optical depth of tau_V 20 in form of a local gas filament and/or a warp
of the thick disk hide a significant fraction of both nuclei.
