Land (Jul 2023)
Visualizing the Landscape of Green Gentrification: A Bibliometric Analysis and Future Directions
Abstract
Green gentrification has emerged as a critical and dynamic research field in environmental justice and gentrification. Few studies have systematically reviewed the current state of green gentrification literature. This paper adopts a CiteSpace-based bibliometric approach to quantitatively and qualitatively analyze 186 publications from the Web of Science database from 2009 to 2022. The objective is to assess the fundamental characteristics, identify research hotspots, themes, frontiers, and future trends in green gentrification, and present a knowledge map. The results reveal the following: (1) Green gentrification research has moved through the preparation, primary, and prosperity stages and, since 2014, has experienced exponential growth while maintaining a robust upward trend. Knowledge of green gentrification is primarily drawn from urban studies, environmental research, geography, and interdisciplinary trends that are increasingly apparent. Although North America and Europe have produced the most research outcomes, the number of studies from South America, Asia, and Australia is rising. (2) Research hotspots initially comprised the conceptualization and theoretical framework of green gentrification and then shifted to empirical studies that identify green gentrification and its social–spatial effects. The current research focus is on the mechanisms and characteristics of green gentrification. (3) Five key themes were identified, including conceptualizing green gentrification, operationalizing green gentrification for local applicability, social–spatial effects, exploring explanatory frameworks or models, and strategic response to green gentrification. (4) Four potential future directions for green gentrification research in the context of three current research trends were proposed: broadening the scope of non-North American case studies, advancing interdisciplinary theoretical innovation, expanding the analysis of green gentrification characteristics, and exploring demand-side drivers of green gentrification. This study enhances the understanding of existing knowledge in green gentrification-related research and provides a reference for future theoretical and empirical studies.
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