A planned city explores how real-time data and automation can shape everyday urban systems
Updated
April 13, 2026 3:26 PM
A package being delivered by drone using the Meituan app. PHOTO: ADOBE STOCK
A newly built district in northern China is being used to test how cities function when infrastructure, data and automation are integrated from the ground up. In Xiong'an New Area, traffic systems, public monitoring and urban services are designed to respond in real time rather than operate on fixed rules.
At the centre of this is a traffic management system powered by more than 20,000 roadside sensors. These track traffic flow, vehicle types and congestion levels, feeding data into an AI system that adjusts signals in milliseconds. Official figures show this has reduced the average number of stops per vehicle by half. The system also detects equipment faults, sends alerts and generates maintenance requests without manual input.
Automation extends beyond roads. Drones are deployed across the city for routine monitoring. In the Rongdong district, roadside units release drones that follow fixed patrol routes of around 1.27 kilometres, completing each run in about five minutes. They are used to monitor traffic, detect illegal parking and inspect public spaces. Similar systems operate in parks to track water levels and issue flood alerts, while in some work zones, drones transport packages of up to five kilograms between buildings.
These applications reflect a broader approach: integrating multiple systems into a single, connected urban framework. Unlike older cities where infrastructure evolves in layers, Xiong’an has been built with coordinated digital systems from the outset. This allows transport, maintenance and public services to operate through shared data systems rather than in isolation.
Alongside this, the area is being developed as a technology and innovation hub. Since its establishment in 2017, it has attracted more than 400 branches of state-owned enterprises and over 200 companies working in sectors such as artificial intelligence, aerospace information and digital technology.
This ecosystem supports projects like the “Xiong’an-1” satellite, which completed research, design, production and testing within eight months of regulatory approval in 2025. The satellite is currently undergoing testing, with a planned launch expected in the second quarter of 2026. It forms part of a broader push to build an aerospace information industry in the region.
The area is also structured to bring companies, research and production closer together. At the Zhongguancun Science Park in Xiong’an, which spans 207,000 square metres, 269 technology companies operate across sectors including AI, robotics and biotechnology. The park hosts more than 2,700 researchers and industry professionals, with companies organised into sector-specific clusters.
Policy support continues to shape this development. In early 2026, the State Council approved the upgrade of Xiong’an’s high-tech industrial development zone to national level status, with a focus on attracting high-end research and strengthening links between scientific development and industrial output.
Xiong’an is positioned as a testing ground for how smart city systems can be deployed at scale. The model depends on coordinated planning, integrated infrastructure and sustained policy support. Whether these systems can be adapted to existing cities, where infrastructure and governance are more fragmented, remains an open question.
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Sensing technology is facilitating the transition of drone delivery services from trial phases to regular daily operations.
Updated
January 23, 2026 10:41 AM
A quadcopter drone with package attached. PHOTO: FREEPIK
A new partnership between Hesai Technology, a LiDAR solutions company and Keeta Drone, an urban delivery platform under Meituan, offers a glimpse into how drone delivery is moving from experimentation to real-world scale.
Under the collaboration, Hesai will supply solid-state LiDAR sensors for Keeta’s next-generation delivery drones. The goal is to make everyday drone deliveries more reliable as they move from trials to routine operations. Keeta Drone operates in a challenging space—low-altitude urban airspace. Its drones deliver food, medicine and emergency supplies across cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Dubai. With more than 740,000 deliveries completed across 65 routes, the company has discontinued testing the concept. It is scaling it. For that scale to work, drones must be able to navigate crowded environments filled with buildings, trees, power lines and unpredictable conditions. This is where Hesai’s technology comes in.
Hesai’s solid-state LiDAR is integrated into Keeta's latest long-range delivery drones. LiDAR stands for Light Detection and Ranging. In simple terms, it is a sensing technology that helps machines understand their surroundings by sending out laser pulses and measuring how they bounce back. Unlike GPS, LiDAR does not rely solely on satellites to determine position. Instead, it gives drones a direct sense of their surroundings, helping them spot small but critical obstacles like wires or tree branches.
In a recent demonstration, Keeta Drone completed a nighttime flight using LiDAR-based navigation alone without relying on cameras or satellite positioning. This shows how the technology can support stable operations even when visibility is poor or GPS signals are limited.
The LiDAR system used in these drones is Hesai’s second-generation solid-state model known as FTX. Compared with earlier versions, the sensor offers higher resolution while being smaller and lighter—important considerations for airborne systems where weight and space are limited. The updated design also reduces integration complexity, making it easier to incorporate into commercial drone platforms. Large-scale production of the sensor is expected to begin in 2026.
From Hesai’s perspective, delivery drones are one of several forms robots are expected to take in the coming decades. Industry forecasts suggest robots will increasingly appear in many roles from industrial systems to service applications, with drones becoming a familiar part of urban infrastructure rather than a novelty.
For Keeta Drone, this improves safety and reliability. And for the broader industry, it signals that drone logistics is entering a more mature phase—one defined less by experimentation and more by dependable execution. Taken together, the partnership highlights a practical evolution in drone delivery.
As cities grow more complex, the question is no longer whether drones can fly but whether they can do so reliably, safely and at scale. At its core, this partnership is not about drones or sensors as products. It is about what it takes to make a complex system work quietly in real cities. As drone delivery moves out of pilot zones and into everyday use, reliability matters more than novelty.