Deciphering the Evolution, Frontier, and Knowledge Clustering in Sustainable City Planning: A 60-Year Interdisciplinary Review

Abstract

Scholars have sought to integrate sustainable principles, attitudes, and methodologies into urban development, drawing insights from the natural and social sciences as well as historical contexts. However, current sustainable urban planning (SUP) research has a broad scope, unclear boundaries, and an absence of systematic literature reviews. To fill this research gap, this review presents a visual analysis of 38,344 publications on SUP indexed in the Web of Science (WoS) from 1964 to 2023, with the aim of detailing the trajectory of SUP research. Utilizing data retrieval and scientific metrology techniques, we: (1) Identified distinct phases in SUP research: budding (pre-1990s), exploration (1990s), foundation (2000s), and maturation (2010–present). (2) Discovered that publications predominantly focused on urban research, landscape architecture, and ecological studies, with publishing trends favoring developed, highly urbanized, and coastal nations. (3) Employed visualized dual map overlays, co-citation clustering networks, and keyword statistical charts to construct a knowledge framework of the interdisciplinary progression and thematic shifts in SUP. Key knowledge clustering included ‘community planning’, ‘urban expansion’, ‘ecosystem services’, and ‘nature-based solutions’. (4) Described the progression of SUP, green innovation is the most promising direction for future research. (5) Defined its scope and elements and advocated for three foundational principles: equity and justice, value articulations, and practical needs, offering a path to actualize SUP efforts.