Urban Air Mobility Strategies: City Perspectives and Lessons Learned

This panel will explore how a few of the UIC2 cities are approaching urban air mobility (UAM) and integrating innovative air mobility strategies into their city. The discussion will focus on the role of governance, cross-sector coordination, and long-term strategic planning in enabling the safe and effective deployment of UAM services within cities.  

A central theme of the panel will be the internal processes behind developing a UAM or drone strategy in cities. A few UIC2 cities will be invited to briefly present their strategies (if already completed) and then dive into how they have developed or are in the process of developing their UAM strategy. Focus will be on the involvement of different municipal departments, i.e. including mobility, urban planning, innovation, environment, aviation, digitalization, and public safety stakeholders.   

The panel aims to highlight practical lessons learned, coordination mechanisms, and approaches to stakeholder engagement throughout the strategy development process. Speakers will be invited to reflect on how urban air mobility aligns with mobility, sustainability, innovation, and spatial planning objectives, as well as the governance structures needed to support implementation.  

The panel will also examine collaboration between cities and industry stakeholders. Participants will be encouraged to share experiences of working with technology providers, mobility operators, infrastructure partners, regulators, research institutions, and other relevant stakeholders. Other focus points could be on how public-private collaboration can support testing, regulation, infrastructure planning, and public acceptance. All cities are welcome to join this session, regardless of whether their UAM or drone strategy is already in place, still under preparation or just to get a feeling.