A Bibliometric Analysis on Smart Cities Related to Land Use

Abstract

According to the World Bank, approximately 55% of the population lives in cities and a growing trend is expected in the future. Cities generate more than 80% of the world’s GDP, so accurate urban land management would favor sustainable growth, increasing productivity and facilitating innovation and the emergence of new ideas. The use and management of public resources and the concern for cities to become increasingly smart are, therefore, of particular importance. To provide an overview and synthesize knowledge on smart cities in relation to land use, a bibliometric analysis was performed of 475 documents extracted from the Web of Science database, using the SciMAT and VOSviewer programs. Research papers published between 1 January 2000 and 8 September 2022 were considered. Three periods have been identified in which a tendency oriented to deepen in a broad concept of smart city has been evidenced. A growing interest in the topic under investigation has been found, expressed as an increase of the number of publications and research groups focused on the topic. The results of this analysis help to know the most relevant contributions published so far on urban land use in smart cities. This knowledge can help streamline decisions in urban land use in smart cities.