Special Session 3: Low-Altitude Economy and Urban Sustainable Development

This session is grounded in the rapid development of the low-altitude economy and focuses on major academic issues related to urban air mobility, the integrated utilization of low-altitude resources, and urban sustainable development. It highlights key scientific and engineering challenges such as the operation and control of low-altitude aircraft, airspace planning, urban scenario-based operation models, and the construction of low-carbon air transportation systems. The forum explores pathways for the integrated development of low-altitude transportation and ground-based urban transportation, balancing industrial development, urban safety, and ecological/environmental needs. It brings together experts from China and abroad to discuss cutting-edge theories, technical solutions, and governance experience, and serves as a bridge for exchange among academia, industry, and research institutions. Outstanding contributions from related fields are warmly welcome.

Call for Papers Topics

(1) Planning, zoning, and refined management methods for urban low-altitude airspace

(2) Operation scheduling and route optimization for electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (eVTOL)

(3) Integrated and coordinated systems for low-altitude transportation and ground-based comprehensive transportation

(4) Low-carbon urban transportation and sustainable development models from the perspective of the low-altitude economy

(5) Noise, safety risk assessment, and control strategies for urban low-altitude operations

(6) Low-altitude digital infrastructure, air traffic management systems, and intelligent supervision technologies

(7) Operational mechanisms, policy systems, and urban spatial adaptation planning for the low-altitude industry

Chair:

Prof. Yang Xin

Beijing Jiaotong University

Biography: Dr. XinYang is a professor and doctoral supervisor at the School of Systems Science, Beijing Jiaotong University. He also serves as Secretary-General of the Transportation Management Branch of the Management Science and Engineering Society of China, a standing committee member of the Emergency Management Professional Committee of the Chinese Society of Systems Engineering, and a committee member of the Logistics Systems Engineering Professional Committee of the Chinese Society of Systems Engineering. He has been selected for the National High-Level Young Talent Program, the Young Elite Scientist Sponsorship Program of the China Association for Science and Technology, and the Outstanding Young Talent program of the Beijing Rail Transit Society.

His research mainly focuses on complex system resilience, transportation operations optimization, and transportation big data analysis. In recent years, he has led more than 10 projects, including key, general, and youth projects funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (including an excellent youth project), tasks under the National Key R&D Program, and projects supported by the Beijing Natural Science Foundation. As a core member, he has participated in more than 20 projects, including the Outstanding Research Group Project and Major Project of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, as well as major projects of China State Railway Group.

He has published more than 50 academic papers in leading international journals such as Nature Communications and Transportation Science, as well as Transportation Research Part A/B/C/D/E. Among them, 8 papers have been listed as ESI Highly Cited Papers or Hot Papers, 1 paper has been included in the major scientific and technological innovation achievements database for transportation, and 1 paper has been selected as one of the 17th Beijing Outstanding Young Scientific Papers.

His research has been cited and recognized by well-known scholars from more than 30 countries and regions, including MIT, UC Berkeley, Imperial College London, ETH Zurich, Tsinghua University, Peking University, National University of Singapore, and Delft University of Technology. Some of his achievements have been included in the book series 10000 Scientific Problems (Transportation Volume). He has been granted more than 30 national invention patents and registered more than 20 software copyrights. His research achievements have received the First Prize of Natural Science of the Ministry of Education (2019) and the First Prize of Engineering Technology of the Ministry of Education (2025), among other honors.

Invited Speech

Prof. Tianliang Liu

Beihang University

Biography: His main research areas include transportation behavior and service operations, integrated transportation and smart logistics management, low-altitude economy operations and management, as well as intelligent transportation data and system control. His research interests focus on the interdisciplinary integration of theoretical modeling and data-driven approaches, with an emphasis on problem-oriented studies and openness to all research methods and technologies. He is currently leading one National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) special project on “Low-Altitude Economy Operations and Management,” and has completed four NSFC projects, as well as one general grant and one special grant from the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation. He has published more than 60 papers.

He currently serves as a council member of the Systems Engineering Society of China, a member of its Transportation Management Division, a member of the Operational Management Committee of the China Association for Management Modernization, a member of the Youth Working Committee of the Chinese Society of Systems Engineering, an Editor for Case Studies on Transport Policy, an Associate Editor for Journal of Systems Science and Systems Engineering, and a board member of Systems Science and Mathematical Sciences and Transportation Systems Engineering and Information. In 2010, he was nominated for China’s Top 100 Outstanding Doctoral Dissertations. In 2013, he was selected for the Ministry of Education’s New Century Excellent Talents Program. In 2020, he was selected for the national-level young talent program. In 2024, he became a core member of the first batch of the Ministry of Education’s Philosophy and Social Sciences Innovation Team, “Smart City Management and Regional Sustainable Development.” In 2025, he received the Second Prize in Natural Sciences of the Ministry of Education’s Outstanding Scientific Research Achievement Award.

Prof. Xiaolei Wang

Tongji University

Biography: Xiaolei Wang is a Professor at the School of Economics and Management, Tongji University, a recipient of Tongji University’s Youth “May Fourth” Medal, and a “March 8th Red-Banner Holder” of Tongji University. She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Science and Technology of China in 2008 and her PhD from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in 2012. During her studies, she was awarded the Guo Moruo Scholarship and the SENG PhD Research Excellence Award, respectively.

She has long been engaged in research on urban transportation system management, and has achieved a series of成果 in two main areas: urban transportation demand management policy design and the operational optimization of shared mobility services. She has published more than 20 SCI/SSCI papers, 11 of which were published in top transportation journals such as Transportation Science and Transportation Research Part B, with an average citation count of 77 per paper. She has led and participated in seven NSFC projects. In 2020, she received funding from the NSFC Excellent Young Scientists Fund. She is also a core member of the Innovation Group project “Integrated Transportation System Operation and Management.”