Aerial urban planning | Urban planning takes to the skies

Over the last few years, we’ve seen the development and convergence of new energy, telecommunications and transport technologies, which may well profoundly alter our relationship with the land, revolutionizing the way we consume, shop and travel. And it’s already begun!

Drones, a revolution in progress

Of all the transportation technologies under development, drones are likely to have a particularly marked impact on our lives, our cities and our urban landscape.

Still fairly limited in our immediate environment, the number of drones in Canada is expected to increase by around 250% in 5 years, from 575,600 in 2018 to over 1.4 million drones in circulation by 2023-2024. And this seems to be a strong, widespread trend. In the United States, drone sales are said to have risen from around 700,000 drones in 2015 to over a million in 2016. In market terms, it is estimated that the value of the drone industry in the United States, valued at US$3.3 billion in 2015, will rise to US$90 billion in 2025, representing growth of over 2,600% in 10 years. In Europe, the drone market is booming. In France, for example, the drone market grew by 365% in 3 years (between 2012 and 2015), from 62 million to 288 million euros. With growth like this, it’s only a matter of time before city skies are populated by these vehicles used for a variety of individual, institutional and commercial purposes.

Drones are being used more and more by citizens and businesses alike, due to their countless possible uses, their flexibility and their low cost (compared with traditional aircraft). At community level, the development of aerial delivery and autonomous air transport are probably the two new forms of use that are likely to have the greatest impact on our living environments in the medium term.

Opportunities for municipalities?         

Drones aren’t just a challenge for municipalities. In fact, many municipalities around the world see them as an opportunity to improve the management of their territory. For example, the municipality of Istres (France) and 69 municipal fire departments in the USA use drones to monitor forest fires. Other municipalities, such as Santiago de Chile (Chile), Arlington (Texas) and Upper Uwchlan (Pennsylvania), use drones to control traffic and reinforce police surveillance in certain areas. Municipalities such as Vernon Hills (Illinois), Tampa (Florida) or Somerville (Massachusetts) in the USA use drones to carry out aerial visual inspections of building roofs, gray and green infrastructure, and hard-to-reach terrain. Municipalities can even use drones to support municipal inspection services. Drones could be a useful tool for municipalities, enabling them to make substantial savings in terms of time and money in managing their territory!

What is a drone?

Drones, also known as “unmanned aircraft systems (UAS)”, are described by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as “remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS)”. They can come in a variety of sizes and shapes, from animal-shaped scale models that can fit in a backpack to full-fledged, conventional helicopter-shaped aircraft (Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, 2013).

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Image: Medium.com