Dai Jifeng (戴继锋): "Air‑Ground Coordination", Unlocking the Fusion Code of Low‑altitude Economy and Urban Renewal

The pitch

It has been reported by Huxiu (虎嗅) that Dai Jifeng (戴继锋) argues "air‑ground coordination" is the missing key to fuse China's new low‑altitude economy with a nationwide push for urban renewal. Policy momentum is real: the 2025 Central Urban Work Conference and a joint Central Committee/State Council opinion elevated low‑altitude industries as a strategic emerging sector after appearances in the 2024 and 2025 government work reports. In short: the state wants flight to be practical, and it wants it to sit on existing cities, not spill onto new land.

Why coordination matters

Dai's core claim is simple and practical. Urban renewal supplies the roofs, plazas and disused yards; low‑altitude services supply logistics, emergency response and new mobility — but too much industry attention still lands on "air" (airspace rules, eVTOL designs) while neglecting "ground" (take‑off pads, charging, building retrofits, data platforms). He recommends a function‑driven, two‑tier "hub–site" network rather than an immediately ambitious three‑tier system used in some foreign studies (McKinsey) or by NASA/FAA frameworks — reportedly because China's current demand is dominated by point‑to‑point logistics and emergency scenarios, not mass eVTOL commutes. Practice from companies such as SF's Fengyi (顺丰丰翼) has been cited as evidence that a leaner, scenario‑driven layout better fits today's market.

Practical path

Dai outlines a compact playbook: repurpose rooftop, plaza and parking stock for landing pads; synchronise new digital infrastructure (5G, charging, NAV) during urban renewal projects; adopt unified technical standards and shared data platforms such as Hefei's (合肥) "one‑net flight" experiments; and embed air interfaces in building retrofit codes to enable "roof delivery + vertical robot" last‑100‑meters flows. Safety remains the non‑negotiable baseline — from airworthiness to airspace management, monitoring and insurance — and Dai urges governments to evolve from direct builders to rule‑makers and platform operators to lower duplication and stimulate shared use.

Constraints and context

This is both an industrial and geopolitical moment. China can leverage massive urban stock and central policy support, but there are constraints: eVTOL passenger service is reportedly still immature, and sensitive components for avionics and powertrains could be affected by global export controls and semiconductor trade frictions — a reality that argues for a staged, pragmatic rollout. Can cities standardise roofs, networks and rules fast enough to capture the upside without overbuilding? Dai's answer is a cautious yes: start flat, scenario‑first, share infrastructure — and treat "air‑ground" as a single system, not two disconnected silos.