Future blog | What will the future of Urban Air Mobility be like?

In this blog post, EU Project Manager Renske Martijnse-Hartikka from Forum Virium Helsinki’s Smart Mobility team reflects on the advantages and challenges related to the drones and Urban Air Mobility.

Drones and the city

Our city is changing all the time, we see it happen before our eyes. I live in the city centre and new roads, bridges or cycle lanes are popping up left and right. Buildings are being renovated or replaced. We see new vehicles around us too: e-scooters are still a relatively new phenomenon and you might run in to a cute little delivery robot on the sidewalk nowadays as well. 

Drones are another of those new and slightly futuristic kind of “vehicles” that increasingly many people will have seen or at least have heard about. You might have a neighbour or friend who has a small drone to fly around the summer house and take some nice pictures with. But in the last five to eight years or so, the types of drones, their size and their purpose has been expanding drastically.  Drones can carry all kinds of sensors, some can carry packages, some very heavy cargo and some even passengers – these are the types that look more like small helicopters. Much more quiet, faster and also cheaper than a helicopter.

Drones and so-called Urban or Innovative Air Mobility will in the near future increasingly become visible: not only physically, but also in debates, policies, newspapers, regulations, discussions, hearts and minds. And when this happens, we need to have the long-term future vision of our city in mind. It is Forum Virium’s role to make the city aware of the new developments and to make sure the different departments are able to anticipate and react to drones.

Planning the future of our common Air Space

Cities have hardly ever before had to think what goes on above their heads and how this could be managed, or restricted. Most of the drones fly between 50 and 130 metres high, if they fly in or near the city. This is called the lower airspace – or perhaps we should start calling it the urban airspace. Re-read that last part: urban airspace. Suddenly cities have an airspace to think about! This is very new – so much so, that there is still much uncertainty about the role a city could or should take, and if this is even a concern to the city organisation – and to which department? Traffic, spatial planning, environment, security, data, permits, inspections, logistics – or all of them?

We at Forum Virium Helsinki started working on the drone topic already around 2019 in the AiRMOUR project, to learn, develop expertise and help shape the role of the city. While most cities in Europe still do not have this topic on the agenda at all, Helsinki has become one of the front-runners in the field. Over the last five years, we at Forum Virium Helsinki have expanded our expertise on the topic through international projects such as AiRMOUR and CITYAM. These both focused on Urban Air Mobility and its impacts on the city. I was in charge of these two large projects and having been involved in the topic for five years now, I have learned a lot about such use cases: initially surprising but on second thought they totally make sense.

Helsinki as a front-runner

Helsinkians can be proud: the city is a Urban Air Mobility frontrunner and has already gathered a lot of knowledge, experience and plans for this. Not many cities in Europe are as advanced in their thinking and development as Helsinki is. And no other city in Europe has two fulltime staff members in the Urban Environment Division working on the topic of Urban Air Mobility. 

In Helsinki, we provide data that helps drone operators to maximise the safety of the flights, we use our digital twin to simulate different routings or landing sites, we act as a testbed, work with companies, research insitutes as well as citizens on this topic and we are a knowledgeable discussion partner for national authorities such as Traficom. Logistics drone traffic starts to happen today and will continue to expand in the coming years.

Pros and cons of the drones

Drones are a topic that bring about emotions, both positive and negative. People can react strongly to them. In general, the question if drones invade our privacy is one of the main worries. Noise is also a concern some people have, and this is of course very subjective and dependent on circumstances. You won’t hear a small electric drone if there are other (traffic) noises around, you also won’t hear drones when they fly at 60 metres altitude. But sure, especially if they land and take-off then there is sound. So, let’s design the landing sites and flight routes so that they do not bother people.

What is not yet happening in Helsinki, at least hardly, are drones to deliver cargo: they could fly between a bloodbank and a lab, for urgent analysis or they could deliver a defibrillator or medicine. They could also bring mouth masks or syringes to health stations or elderly homes, for example in case of a new pandemic. Drones are much faster and cheaper than taxis, they are more energy efficient than electric cars and afterall, why use a 2000 kg vehicle to deliver a 2 kg package? 

Read also:

• Future of emergency medical services in Helsinki – a drone could save your life
• Drone aids in a water rescue operation – Successful pilot in the Port of Helsinki

Would you like the drones to deliver groceries, the newspaper, burgers or beer? The first commercial drone grocery deliveries will still start this year in the Helsinki region and such services are likely to expand. It is important to form an opinion if such services are indeed welcome in our city everywhere and at all times – or perhaps only in certain areas or certain times of day.

Drones to the rescue – and inspection

When Helsinki did a study in spring 2023 about the Future of Helsinki’s Urban Air Mobility, it said that in 2022 there were more than 25.000 drone flights above the capital. When I heard that, I was amazed! Because how often have you seen an actual drone flying somewhere near you, when you are in town? It can’t be often, because drones are hardly ever allowed to fly above people and there are several official no-fly zones too.

It turns out that many of those 25.000 flights are for example above Kruununsillat: the large bridge construction from Hakaniemi to Kruunuvuorenranta. Construction companies use drones on a daily basis to monitor progress and plan their work.  Drones are also used to inspect the exterior of high buildings or telecom masts: why get a crane, block the street and spend a lot of time and money, when you could just do the inspection by a drone with a camera? Same thing for ports: no need anymore to send out a boat if you can do quai wall inspections by drone.

You can also think of drones with heat sensors to fly over a fire to detect the source of the heat and the direction it spreads to. Drones for search & rescue, drones to detect oil spills, to do traffic counting from the air, or drones to see where fallen branches block the cycle lanes or roads, after the storm has died down.

Read also:

• Aerial photography provides information about the changing urban environment

And you know what: all of this is already happening. Helsinki City, its Rescue Services, the police, Stara, the Port of Helsinki and many others use drones for things like this on a (near-) daily basis.

European cooperation

Although I’m not a person who’s by nature very interested in technology or data, the drone topic has “grown on me”. I studied European studies and Political Science. A lot of the regulation about safety, security, standards etc comes from Europe. It is essential to agree on such things on an European (or even world-wide) level, similar to commercial aviation. Also, this new technology requires a lot of cooperation.

Cities around Europe experience the same questions and challenges. What will my role be? How can I integrate this new transport mode in my policies and strategies, what do my citizens think, is it really safe, what are the best use cases – any many more such questions.

Every municipality around Europe, big or small, has to familiarise themselves with this new technology in order to make sure that drones impact the city in a positive way and start considering the pros and cons drones can bring – as well as the ways a town or city can influence their expected increase, so that it happens in the most sustainable, acceptable and best possible way for society. Helsinki has some great drone cooperation ongoing with for example Stockholm, Hamburg and Amsterdam, to learn from each other.

Political consensus

The drone topic is also very political. What is the city we want to live in? Do we want to prioritise giving companies the chance to develop economic activities and grow their business? Do we want to preserve our quiet nature areas and protect wildlife? Do we want to be known as an innovative city that embraces digital technologies and looks to the future? Or do we have to be cautious and prioritise safety and privacy of our citizens, as long as we do not know yet every impact this new technology could have? Perhaps we can do both.

If we want to make our city operations cheaper, faster or more efficient via drone deliveries, the local and regional politicians should start talking about this and debates should be held at each political table. To shape the future that we want to have, we need to act now. All cities should be responsible managers of the precious space in the city that needs to be divided fairly between all its users.

Benefits to society

The revolution of autonomous drone traffic is upon us, and its impact on urban life is undeniable. It can bring huge time savings, efficiency gains, cost savings and, in some cases, better services. I believe that Helsinki’s proactive approach to drone integration can serve as a model for other cities navigating this complex landscape.

By embracing innovation, fostering collaboration, and engaging in informed decision-making, we can shape a future where drones enhance our cities and improve our lives, while addressing the challenges they present.

The time to act is now. Let’s ensure that the rise of drones in our cities is a journey towards progress, sustainability, and a better quality of life for all!

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