As cities prepare for the rise of drones and Urban Air Mobility (UAM), understanding their real-world impact on people and the environment is more important than ever. The MUSE project is tackling this challenge head-on with a cutting-edge framework designed to measure and minimise the social and environmental footprint of drone operations in urban areas.
The MUSE project has successfully developed a pioneering U-space Environmental and Social Performance Framework to evaluate how Urban Air Mobility (UAM) operations affect the liveability of European cities.
This innovative framework goes beyond traditional performance indicators by introducing high-resolution, multi-dimensional metrics to measure drone-related noise, visual pollution, privacy concerns, access and equity, emissions, and more. It considers variations in impact across demographics, land use, and time of day; making it the most comprehensive set of indicators for U-space to date.
“MUSE responds to a growing need for tools that can assess not just the technical feasibility of drone operations, but their real-world consequences for people and cities,” said the project team.
By combining advanced modelling, anonymised mobile data, and dynamic population maps, the framework provides a solid foundation for data-driven policy, impact mitigation, and citizen-friendly UAM planning. The framework has already been validated with expert input from urban planners, drone operators, regulators, and sociologists.
The MUSE Performance Framework lays the groundwork for a future U-space service that prioritises quality of life alongside innovation, which is animportant step toward socially accepted drone integration in urban skies.