[Global Research Trends] 6. Trends in Publications Concentrations & Top Publication Countries on UAM & Urban Rail (2017-2024)

/ Scinapse Trends Series #6

‘Scinapse Trends’ will be updated bi-weekly on Fridays with research trends to facilitate the researcher's journey .

After the White Paper released by Uber in 2016, which outlined Uber's vision for the Urban Air Mobility (UAM) industry, discussions about UAM began in earnest, marking the start of a shift in the paradigm of transportation. Urban Air Mobility, commonly referred to as UAM, is a concept that involves using air transportation for short-distance travel within cities. It primarily aims to reduce traffic congestion and enable fast and efficient movement using electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. Current research in this field is focused on technologies such as drones and small electric aircraft, with long-term goals including autonomous flight capabilities.

On the other hand, Urban Rail is a transportation system very familiar to us in urban areas, referring to subways, light rail transit (LRT), monorails, and various high-speed rail systems. It is widely used today due to its efficiency in mass transit, as well as its affordability and speed.

These two concepts are emerging as key elements in sustainable urban development, alongside smart cities. In particular, with advancements in technology, research is focusing on autonomous flight, eco-friendly energy, and IoT-based traffic management systems. Therefore, research in these two fields plays a crucial role in designing future urban transportation networks and achieving sustainable development.

Thus, analyzing the research trends of UAM and Urban Rail is meaningful in identifying new opportunities for urban transportation network design and urban development, as well as predicting the direction of technological advancements. In this Scinapse Trends series, we aim to explore the publication concentrations over the past seven years to see which countries have conducted the most research.

Trends in Publication Concentrations and Top Publication Countries for UAM and Urban Rail (2017-2024)

Urban rail, a traditional mode of transportation for many years, had 125 publications in 2017, with China alone contributing 78 publications. Research in this area was already active across multiple countries, resulting in a low national publication concentration. On the other hand, UAM, which was still in its early stages, had only 3 publications, all from the United States, indicating a high concentration of publications in the U.S.

However, by 2023, UAM research in the U.S. had surged to 158 publications, representing a nearly 52-fold increase compared to 2017. Furthermore, countries such as Germany, which had no UAM research in 2017, produced 50 publications, alongside South Korea, the United Kingdom, China, and others, resulting in a total of 426 publications globally. This marks an overall 142-fold increase, showing that not only has UAM research become significantly more active, but it has also grown quantitatively.

Meanwhile, urban rail publications grew to 315 papers in 2023, approximately a 2.52-fold increase compared to 2017.

Note: 2024 data is only partially reflected, so 2023 was used for accurate comparisons. The top 10 countries ranked by publications up to August 2024 can be found below. (Clicking on the image will take you to the Scinapse Research Intelligence page for each dataset.)

How Can I Extract Research Insights From Scinapse?

Scinapse's Research Intelligence Advanced Filter allows users to add and edit various filters according to their research objectives. This enables searching for the right paper and gaining insights into advanced research trends.

You can view the most concentrated results by starting with the Summary tab, where a summary of the desired results is displayed. In the Top Countries tab on the far right, you can see the number of publications by country as well as the corresponding papers. (Sorting is available by citations, newest, or oldest, depending on your needs.)

How Has UAM Evolved Over the Past Years?

So what kind of actual research content has changed and developed over the last 3, 5, and 7 years? Over the past few years, UAM research has advanced technologies like aerodynamic simulations, energy management, flight planning, and fuel cells, with a growing focus on system optimization and aircraft design.

In the past 7 years, research has advanced UAM technologies like autonomous management, hydrogen fuel cells, eVTOL, aerodynamic simulations, and urban air mobility flight planning. And for

the last 5 years, research has focused on UAM technologies such as transportation preferences, fuel cells, scheduling, flight control, and propeller interactions.

Finally, for the past 3 years, research has concentrated on aerodynamic simulations, flight planning, energy management, and airspace optimization for UAM.

The “AI Research Insights✨” shows how research has been conducted and progressed within your search criteria over the last 3, 5, or 7 years.

👉🏻If you need more information from Research Intelligence, Try it Now!

👇🏻Need more insights? Book a demo today!

/ Data source - Scinapse 
Topic advised by RI Team from [PT05] Publication Concentration by Countries in Urban Air Mobility

/ Written by Geehee Nahm
- Content Strategist specializing in AI and SaaS industries

For Previous Scinapse Trends 🔽

Top 10 Publications and Citations in Smart Factory Research

Explore the research trends and top publications in Smart Factory research field from 2010-2024 using Scinapse.

Pluto Labs Blog｜Research Trends InsightsPluto Labs

Never re-search again.

Scinapse is made by researchers for researchers.
Join the next generation of research at ⏯️ https://scinapse.io/

Pluto Labs

Pluto Labs helps researchers focus on their research by improving several inefficiencies in the academic research process. We offer data-driven insights from academic papers, allowing users to easily obtain review-level results for their desired range of papers. 
https://pluto.im/