The BELL NEXUS flying car concept. (image: BELL NEXUS)
SEOUL, Dec. 31 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea will come up with a road map on urban air mobility next year in a move to set rational regulations for safe airborne travel, the transport ministry said Tuesday.
The road map, set to be unveiled in May, will include an analysis of demand for urban air mobility and establishment of infrastructure for the fast-growing urban air mobility sector, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.
Urban air mobility vehicles appear to refer to flying taxis and passenger drones.
The move comes as carmakers and other companies have been racing to take a lead in urban air mobility, which is seen as a future mobility solution for growing traffic problems in big cities around the world.
The ministry also said it will push for a concept of urban air mobility when it comes to using land and designing buildings in a departure from decades-old transit-oriented development.
In October, Hyundai Motor Group Executive Vice Chairman Chung Eui-sun said the group will remain an automobile manufacturer but will focus on becoming a future mobility solutions provider.
In September, Hyundai Motor appointed a former NASA aeronautics expert, 61-year-old Shin Jai-won, as executive vice president and head of its newly established urban air mobility division.
Urban air mobility is expected to grow into a market worth US$1.5 trillion within the next 20 years, according to Shin.
(Yonhap)
