Review of Urban Land Management Based on Bibliometrics

Abstract

As the carrier of global urbanization, urban land is the basic means of productivity and life of urban residents. Urban land management is of great significance to global climate change mitigation, improving ecological quality, promoting economic development, and ensuring sustainable urban development. At present, although studies on urban land management have accumulated at the global level, the differences in research methods, objectives, and perspectives have led to the fragmentation and confusion of research conclusions. Therefore, it is necessary to review the literature of urban land management, clarify the research contexts, grasp the research progress, and predict the research trends. Bibliometrics, as a quantitative analysis method of literature review analysis, is more comprehensive and objective than relying only on a literature review. It is of great value to grasp the topics and trends of the research field from an overall perspective. In this paper, the Bibliometrix R software package was used to conduct an econometric literature analysis on urban land management from 1979 to 2021, using the Web of Science database. The results showed that: (1) the annual scientific research output and citation frequency in the field of urban land management has generally increased. Combined with the annual change trend of scientific research output, urban land management research can be divided into three stages: the budding period, from 1979 to 1989, the development period, from 1990 to 2008, and the high-yield period, from 2009 to 2021. (2) The 129 countries/regions reviewed differed in their research output, and developed countries showed strong research. The United States, China, and Australia were the top three countries in terms of solo publications and cooperation publications. In addition, among the 16,270 authors, the top three authors were Pradhan, Zhao, and Li. (3) The top three keywords in the field of urban land management were “Management”, “City/Cities” and “Land Use”. The research topics can be divided into three stages. The first stage covers studies with topics of “Management”, “Urbanization” and “GIS”, from 1979 to 2013. From 2014 to 2018, the research topics were gradually enriched by “Urbanization”, “Impact”, “System”, “GIS”, “Management”, “Policy”, “Conservation” and “land”, with a trend towards multidisciplinary and multi-perspective comprehensive analyses. From 2019 to 2021, “Management” and “Climate Change” were the main topics.

Swelling Cities? Detecting China’s Urban Land Transition Based on Time Series Data

“…Urban land use transition is the result of multiple influencing factors, and the related land use policies have a profound influence on urban land use change [7,40,41]. Since 2009, a series of policy documents have been issued at the national level (Figure 10), aiming to limit the total amount of urban land, strictly control the increment, and set the growth boundary.…”

“…Second, the traditional linear growth model may not be suitable for planning, and more precise and prudent prediction and simulation mechanisms are needed [43]. Third, policymakers should adhere to the orientation of livable and sustainable development to improve urban governance [41,44]. Urban management must foster new competitive advantages through industrial transition and up-grading, improve infrastructure and public services, and boost urban development vitality.…”

Evolving Urban Expansion Patterns and Multi-Scenario Simulation Analysis from a Composite Perspective of “Social–Economic–Ecological”: A Case Study of the Hilly and Gully Regions of Northern Loess Plateau in Shaanxi Province

“…However, amidst the global tide of urbanization, challenges have surfaced, including the unchecked pace of urban land expansion, rampant spatial sprawl, and discordant spatial arrangements [3]. Notably, despite cities encompassing a mere 3% of the globe's landmass, they accommodate a staggering 55% of the global populace, exacerbating the palpable tension between human habitation and environmental integrity [4]. Projections suggest a twofold increase in global urban areas by 2095 [5].…”

The Spatial Pattern Evolution of Rural Settlements and Multi-Scenario Simulations since the Initiation of the Reform and Opening up Policy in China

“…Through prudent land apportionment, the reduction of carbon emissions and the preservation of biodiversity can be harmonized with the provisioning of ample arable land to satiate humanity's nutritional requisites [7,8]. Nevertheless, as the global populace continues its relentless expansion, the scarcity of land resources is destined to escalate, further exacerbating the tensions between burgeoning human needs and the limited expanse of the land [9]. Hence, it becomes imperative to recalibrate our vantage point and embrace the pivotal role of land utilization metamorphosis in elevating the quality of our habitation and propelling sustainable human advancement.…”