Academic Traces of Urban Furniture: A Bibliometric Perspective

Abstract

Urban furniture, which increases the quality and aesthetics of urban life, has recently been the subject of academic studies. However, a bibliometric and visual analysis in this field has not been conducted in sufficient number. This paper presents a quantitative and descriptive study of 1,063 documents from the Web of Science database (1975-2022) using RStudio's 'Bibliometrix' package. Key bibliometric indicators include 887 documents, 619 references, 582 articles, 12.25 citations per document, 2,558 authors, 1,386 keywords, keywords of 2,968 authors, and a collaboration index of 16.8%. The study found higher scientific productivity in China and the USA. Research status, influential sources, countries, institutions, authors, keywords and data relationships were analysed. In particular, it was observed that academic interest increased after 2000 and focused on technology, environment and urban disciplines rather than architecture. The keywords (Author's Keywords and Keywords plus) vary, with a focus on the urban field of study and the health and environment field of study, but both keywords are increasing. The paper recommends increased interdisciplinary co-operation to broaden the scope of urban furniture research. This is one of the first comprehensive bibliometric and content analyses on urban furniture.