Urban Airspace Traffic System Digitization with UAV Communication: A Chinese Case Study

The growth of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) usage has increased the difficulty of airspace management in smart cities. Traditional air traffic models cannot be applied to air traffic management in the urban environment. However, with the development of communication technology, the integration of technology has brought more possibilities for low-altitude airspace management. From the perspective of UAV communications and urban air traffic management, this article identifies a communication-aware digital airspace framework for urban low-altitude UAV operations in representative Chinese scenarios. Rather than providing a simple summary of existing urban traffic management, grid-based airspace, and 5G/6G concepts, the article connects airspace representation, communication support, navigation reliability, conflict detection, and hierarchical control within one unified management framework. Based on this framework, the article derives an implementable scheme for infrastructure planning, airspace partitioning, conflict mitigation, and layered governance.