Renewal Design Prospects of High-Rise Building Top Spaces in Response to the New Demands of Low-altitude Economy
YU Yiwen
PAN Wente
Abstract：As a strategic emerging industry prioritized by national development,the low-altitude economy is reshaping both the spatial structure of cities and the functional system of architecture.Driven by both policy guidance and technological innovation,there's synergistic development of multiple domains such as drone logistics,urban air mobility,and low-altitude infrastructure construction,which facilitates urban space evolving from a ground-dominated configuration to an integrated air-ground system.Consequently,high-rise buildings are transforming from static,single-function entities into dynamic,multifunctional nodes within the low-altitude urban network.In response,it is urgent to establish a spatial design theory and renewal methodology compatible with the low-altitude economy in the architectural field.Hence,this study examines how high-rise buildings can achieve spatial adaptation and functional reconfiguration in the context of a low-altitude economy from a macro perspective,thereby providing theoretical support for future three-dimensional city development.
Academic journal publications from 2010 to 2025 on the China National Knowledge Infrastructure database were searched using the keywords of"low-altitude economy,low-altitude airspace,drone,architecture,and urban space."Bibliometric and visualization analyses were conducted through CiteSpace software.Keyword co-occurrence networks and timeline clustering maps were constructed to identify the staged evolution,hotspot distributions,and interdisciplinary intersections of research themes.According to analysis results,studies on the low-altitude economy have evolved through three main stages:1)the exploratory stage(2010-2020),which paid attention to policy analysis and technological concepts;2)the rapid development stage(2020-2023),where the academic circle shifted attention to rapid development;and 3)the research boom stage(2023-present),whereby interdisciplinary integration enhanced significantly and collaboration of architecture,urban planning,and transportation engineering has become increasingly prominent.Generally,research topics have expanded from technical and management concerns toward spatial adaptation and urban system integration,forming a synergistic development pattern of technological innovation,policy support,and spatial coordination.
Further analysis reveals that the top floors of high-rise buildings can be categorized into three primary functional types in low-altitude economic scenarios:production,exchange,and storage.The production function primarily accommodates the research,development,and testing activities of low-altitude industries.The exchange function emphasizes the connection and transformation between air and ground transportation.The storage function supports logistics warehousing and operational management.Although existing studies have identified these spatial potentials,the architecture field still lacks systematic theories and design methodologies.No clear consensus has been reached on issues such as spatial organization and circulation configuration.Moreover,the standards and guidance for architectural renewal policy need improvement.
To address these challenges,the study proposes a four-stage renewal design framework for top spaces of high-rise buildings,involving integrated sensing,intelligent control coordination,modular reconfiguration,and spatial reconstruction.This framework aims to build variable structures and composite spaces through multisource data and intelligent system coordination across four dimensions—the data and sensing layer,the intelligent control layer,the structural system layer,and the spatial organization layer—to realize high-efficiency connection and functional expansion of the air-ground system.It provides a systematic approach for architects to respond to the low-altitude economy and is conducive to improving the dynamic adaptability of architectural spaces.Research conclusions provide basic theoretical support for transforming high-rise buildings into pivotal nodes within the urban low-altitude collaborative network.
Keywords：low-altitude economyhigh-rise buildingsbuilding renovationurban low-altitude transportationdrones
Publication Date：2025-11-30
Online Publishing Date：2025-12-09(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：10( 105-114 )