Urban Disparity Analytics Using GIS: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Urban disparity has been extensively studied using geospatial technology, yet a comprehensive review of GIS applications in this field is essential to address the current research status, potential challenges, and future trends. This review combines bibliometric analysis from two databases, Web of Science (WOS) and Scopus, encompassing 145 articles from WOS and 80 from Scopus, resulting in a final list of 201 articles after excluding 24 duplicates. This approach ensures a comprehensive understanding of urban disparities and the extensive applications of GIS technology. The review highlights and characterizes research status and frontiers into research clusters, future scopes, and gaps in urban disparity analysis. The use of both WOS and Scopus ensures the review’s credibility and comprehensiveness. Findings indicate that most research has focused on accessibility analysis of urban services and facilities. However, there is a recent paradigm shift toward environmental justice, demonstrated by increasing GIS applications in analyzing pollution exposure, urban heat islands, vegetation distribution, disaster vulnerability, and health vulnerability.