Understanding Social Acceptance in Urban Air Mobility: Insights from Sophia Kalakou

The ImAFUSA team has been working for several months on better understanding how people perceive urban air mobility (UAM) – and why that matters. Sophia Kalakou, Assistant Professor at ISCTE – University Institute of Lisbon and the coordinator of the ImAFUSA Project, shares in this interview insights on the methodology of this research and why that matters.

While many projects focus on the technical side of drones and air taxis, ImAFUSA is tackling a less visible but equally important dimension: societal acceptance. That means asking:

How do people feel about these technologies operating in their neighbourhoods? What do they consider safe? And would they be willing to pay for these services?

“We are creating databases that are new, and we don't have any other similar ones from other research activities,” says Sophia.

To gather these insights, the project conducts real-time data collection and hands-on experiments. Citizens are exposed to UAM technologies in real-life and simulated environments.

“We use, for example, VR environments for the assessment of people's perception of the deployment of these technologies. We're also using innovative equipment for the measurement of the annoyance of people from the noise produced from these kinds of vehicles.”

One area ImAFUSA is particularly focused on is perceived safety, as opposed to technical safety. What engineers might consider acceptable might still make citizens uncomfortable.

Sophia also highlights the development of a unique “Social Acceptance Scale”, led by ISCTE, which will help quantify how acceptable drones and air taxis are in different settings,—from urban centres to rural villages.

In addition to safety and acceptance, the project is also looking at economic factors, —specifically, how much people might be willing to pay for services like last-mile deliveries or air taxis.

“We want to see what is a willingness to pay from the side of the citizens for the use of these services for two different purposes… logistics… or passenger transport.”

Finally, Sophia emphasises the importance of aligning research with public needs:

“The collaboration with different levels of local authorities would be beneficial so that we can understand what are their needs, preferences, and what are the impact areas that interest them the most.”

ImAFUSA is not just measuring how UAM can fly—but how far it can go with public support. By grounding innovation in human experience, the project is helping shape a future of urban air mobility that works for everyone.

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Connect with Sophia Kalakou and ISCTE - University of Lisbon to learn more about their research progress.