Urban Air Mobility: A Review of Recent Advances in Communication, Management, and Sustainability

TL;DR

This review paper summarizes recent advances in Urban Air Mobility, focusing on communication, management, and sustainability, highlighting technological progress and challenges towards a scalable, eco-friendly urban air transportation system.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive synthesis of recent research, compares state-of-the-art solutions, and outlines key milestones for developing sustainable UAM infrastructure.

Findings

Advances in dynamic spectrum allocation improve communication reliability.

Novel air-traffic control concepts enable dense, autonomous urban airspace management.

Energy-efficient propulsion and infrastructure are critical for sustainable UAM deployment.

Abstract

Urban Air Mobility (UAM) offers a transformative approach to addressing urban congestion, improving accessibility, and advancing environmental sustainability. Rapid progress has emerged in three tightly linked domains since 2020: (1) Communication, where dynamic spectrum allocation and low-altitude channel characterization support reliable air-ground data exchange; (2) UAM management, with novel air-traffic control concepts for dense, largely autonomous urban airspace; and (3) Sustainability, driven by energy-efficient propulsion, integrated charging infrastructure, and holistic environmental assessment. This paper reviews and synthesizes the latest research across these areas, compares the state-of-the-art solutions, and outlines the technological and infrastructural milestones that are critical to realizing a scalable, sustainable UAM ecosystem.