Fostering UAM implementation: from bibliometric analysis to insightful knowledge on the demand

In the current era, a new class of lightweight, silent, and all-electric aircraft that can take off and land vertically is about to transform mobility in major urban centers. Safer and quieter than helicopters, and operating in some cases without a pilot, they can supplement land mobility. Indeed, urban air mobility (UAM) has recently been a hot topic for debate and scientific research. However, it requires new types of service and technology and a novel business model. For a successful implementation, this paper provides the most insightful knowledge and actors, focusing on demand assessment through current research advancements in the area of urban air mobility. For that purpose, bibliometric analysis has been conducted, using a four-step methodology based on the search of the most frequently used keywords. The research work investigated the needs of the main stakeholders and illustrated how UAM can mitigate the pressure put on decision-makers regarding the mobility demand. The results show recent trends in scientific publications and citations, most cited articles, countries, and organizations that are more involved in this research subject, keyword co-co-occurrence analysis to identify and analyze current research areas and their associated barriers and challenges, using the VOSviewer software and WoS analytic feature.