The potential use of unpiloted aerial vehicles (UAVs), usually simply called drones, is gaining ever more attention in discussions about the future of cities in general and city traffic in particular.
The BMBF-funded Sky Limits project was initiated against this background. Employing approaches from the disciplines of technology assessment and social science mobility research, the project set out to investigate the opportunities and risks of airspace usage by delivery drones and air taxis and to derive recommendations with regard to its future development.
These have been developed on the basis of research evidence and can act as a guide for future political decision-making. They are primarily aimed at those involved in drawing up policy – particularly transport policy – at a national level in Germany but also address researchers and local community representatives.
To explain the rationale behind the twelve recommendations the paper first summarises the central research findings of the Sky Limits project and then presents the recommendations derived from these findings.