Research Development on Sustainable Urban Infrastructure From 1991 to 2017: A Bibliometric Analysis to Inform Future Innovations

• Published in: Earth's future 2019-07, Vol.7 (7), p.718-733
• Main Authors: Du, Huibin, Liu, Diyi, Lu, Zhongming, Crittenden, John, Mao, Guozhu, Wang, Shuai, Zou, Hongyang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Bibliometric analysis; Bibliometrics; Citation indexes; Clean energy; Cloud computing; Cocitation; Collaboration; Critical infrastructure; Development strategies; Emerming Innovation; Future Challenge; Green infrastructure; Growth models; Infrastructure; Innovations; International cooperation; Keywords; Network analysis; New technology; R&D; Renewable energy; Research & development; Research Progress; Science; Smart grid; Sustainability; Sustainable development; Sustainable urban infrastructure; Technological change; Urban areas; Urban development; Urban planning; Urbanization
• ISSN: 2328-4277; 2328-4277
• DOI: 10.1029/2018EF001117

Studies of sustainable urban infrastructure are expanding since the United Nations proposed the concept of sustainability in 1982. The need for more sustainable urban infrastructures led to many research efforts on innovative technologies and development strategies. We analyzed research progress on sustainable urban infrastructure from 1991 to 2017 using bibliometric, keyword co‐occurrence and document cocitation network analysis. An increasing publication number suggests a rapid development of the sustainable urban infrastructure research area, but the development is still in an emerging stage. With respect to the analysis of research themes, we analyzed keyword co‐occurrence networks in the three stages of 1991‐1999, 2000‐2008, and 2009‐2017. We observed substantial expansions and intensive interconnections of research theme clusters on sustainable urban infrastructure. The themes from 2009 to 2017 include “critical infrastructure,” “urban planning and design,” “development need,” “technology innovation,” and “cyber‐physical system.” The United States produced 28.93% of the publications and played a core role in the international collaboration network. We further compared national interests among top productive countries, which highlights different priorities of investing more sustainable urban infrastructures. Finally, we presented an in‐depth analysis of four emerging technology innovations, namely, renewable energy, smart grid, green infrastructure, and cloud computing regarding research directions and challenges. Our results not only provide a valuable reference for researchers who are interested in sustainable urban infrastructures but also put forward the emphasis and orientations of future studies. Plain Language Summary More than a half of world population are currently living in urban areas for decent work and high‐quality services. How we develop cities and infrastructures affects resource needs, quality of life, and the impact of natural environment. Considering the increasing pressure from resource depletion, ecosystem degradation, and climate change, it is critical and urgent to foresee what future cities and infrastructures should be and the gaps we should overcome. Our study provided an overview for a broad audience to recognize the current research progress of sustainable urban infrastructure. Our study shows that this topic is still in an emerging stage with a steady growth of publications. The research themes have expanded dramatically