As Incheon City is actively introducing the UAM (urban air mobility) system, it is expected that the 3rd new city will be built as a smart city specialized in UAM.

At the '2023 Korea Urban Air Mobility (K-UAM) Confex' conference held by Incheon Metropolitan City for three days from November 8 to 10 at Paradise City on Yeongjong Island, Incheon, Kim Young-in, Vice President of Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH), introduced the plan to promote the UAM-specialized smart city and vertiport development project.

Vice Minister Kim said, “We plan to apply UAM to six third-generation new cities under construction since 2018 to build urban-type vertiports and commercial-cultural complexes,” and “Next-generation smart mobility such as robotaxis, DRT, GTX, and UAM will be connected on the Maas (Mobility as a Service) platform, providing greater convenience.”

UAM refers to a next-generation, cutting-edge transportation system based on vertical takeoff and landing pads and low-noise, eco-friendly aircraft powered by electricity in urban areas. As the government-led K-UAM Grand Challenge is rapidly developing with the goal of commercialization in 2025, it is expected that UAM will be able to reduce travel time from Seoul to Incheon Airport by up to 60% compared to the current time.

Recently, UAM has been attracting attention for its expandability as it not only solves urban traffic congestion but also involves infrastructure such as vertiports. In other words, the connection between UAM and UATM (Urban Air Traffic Management), a traffic management system for safe and efficient operation, is being emphasized.

Vice Minister Kim said, “The integration of UAM technology with flight management, communications, and administration is important, and LH is leading the establishment of vertiports and working to secure urban acceptance by forming social consensus among citizens.” LH will be in charge of evaluating the location suitability of vertiports using digital twin technology. It will identify environmental factors and impacts surrounding the UAM, such as the possibility of takeoff and landing, the possibility of damage to housing complexes, and the height of buildings.

Incheon City is taking an active step toward establishing UAM, which is a means to innovatively change the public transportation system in the city center, metropolitan area, and island areas. Incheon is evaluated to have optimal conditions in various fields such as research and development, verification, and commercialization for the introduction of an urban air traffic system, as it has Incheon International Airport, Incheon Port, and the demand for the metropolitan area hinterland and various islands.

In particular, Vice Minister Kim said, “Yeongjongdo is expected to become a hub for UAM.” Incheon City explained that through cooperation with Incheon International Airport Corporation and others, it will be reborn as a place that connects the entire country by 2025. To this end, it is expected that an urban-type vertiport will be established that can create synergy effects by developing office facilities, hotels, and cultural facilities together.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport completed a flight demonstration event in Goheung, Jeollanam-do, in conjunction with the K-UAM Grand Challenge on the 3rd. The second phase of verification will begin in urban areas starting in August 2024. After verification testing and satisfying safety standards, the sections where actual demand can occur will be determined.

At the last ICT Industry Outlook Conference, LG Uplus Future Mobility Technology Team Leader Ryu Hyeong-sang said, “In order for UAM to be commercialized, it is essential to utilize it in conjunction with aviation traffic infrastructure. We will review usable airspace within metropolitan areas and conduct verification centered on rivers and roads.”

LH unveiled a blueprint to establish a downtown type vertiport in Incheon Gyeyang New Town, which is connected to Incheon Airport at the Cheongna Drone Test Certification Center, and develop it into a UAM specialized city. The plan is to gain know-how in building vertiports through verification and create a UAM and S-BRT specialized zone with a multimodal transportation complex in the next-generation smart city.

Vice Minister Kim added, “The Vertiport operator will select private companies by reviewing their mobility operation proposals through a public contest,” and “UAM, which is connected to the smart city model, is expected to be used in New Town starting in 2030.”

Meanwhile, this event was co-hosted by Incheon City and GURS (Global UAM Regional Summit), and organized by 11 specialized organizations including the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. GURS is an international cooperative body for urban air traffic led by Incheon City, bringing together global cities, airports, universities, and organizations.

At the opening ceremony, three business agreements (MOUs) were signed between global organizations. △Business agreement for cooperation in commercializing urban air traffic among consortiums including Incheon City, Incheon International Airport Corporation, Hyundai Motor Company, Korean Air, Hyundai Engineering & Construction, and KT △Business agreement for development of UAM airport shuttle routes among Incheon City, Gwangmyeong City, Incheon International Airport Corporation, Korea Expressway Corporation, Incheon Port Authority, and the Aerospace Industry-Academia Convergence Institute.

In particular, as the world's first commercial service of urban air traffic is expected to take place at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics, German AAM company Volocopter also made a presentation at the session on the '2024 Paris Olympics Urban Air Traffic Commercialization Project.'