A Systematic Review of Urban Air Mobility Development: eVTOL Drones’ Technological Challenges and Low-Altitude Policies of Shenzhen

Urban Air Mobility (UAM) is emerging as a transformative solution to urban traffic congestion and inefficient ground travel. This paper presents the UAM development of Shenzhen, a pioneering city of low-altitude economy in China. It focuses on eVTOL drones for Shenzhen UAM, systematically reviewing the technical challenges, policy support, and practical progress. Firstly, the technical status of eVTOL drone design and research is reviewed, and the multidimensional technologies and application bottlenecks faced by eVTOL drones are identified. Secondly, by combining flight safety technology and urban air mobility regulation technology, the systematic technical challenges of urban low-altitude traffic based on eVTOL drones are analyzed. Furthermore, from the perspective of coordinated promotion of infrastructure and regulation, the foundation of urban air mobility applications is clarified, among which efficient flight approval and large-scale construction of takeoff and landing sites across the entire city represent prominent advantages of Shenzhen’s future air mobility. Then, given the high correlation between the systemic technological challenges of urban air mobility and low-altitude economic policies, this paper reveals the complementary relationship between technological challenges and low-altitude policies based on the current status of Shenzhen’s policy promotion and its impact on technology and industry. Finally, the technical issues and regulatory trends faced by eVTOL drones in urban air mobility in Shenzhen are summarized, and combined with the global and Chinese commercial prospects of manned eVTOL drones, suggestions for the future development of urban air mobility in Shenzhen are proposed from the following four dimensions: technology research and development, infrastructure, industrial ecology, and regional coordination.