| Abstract |
The term "future cities" represents a paradigm shift in urban development. It aims to create sustainable urban environments that integrate technology, strategic management, and citizen participation in order to address challenges such as rapid urbanization and climate change. It attains its objectives through the integration of interdisciplinary research, systems thinking, and continuous practice. Despite considerable efforts in the field of future cities' research, there is currently no single comprehensive review that can adequately address the full range of aspects related to the topic. Reviews, on the other hand, tend to be fragmented, concentrating on specific topics like smart cities, sustainable smart cities, livable cities, digitization, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the environment, natural resources, and new innovations and technologies. Therefore, we conducted a bibliometric review of future cities, which included all documents listed in Scopus, Web of Science, and Dimensions from 1875 to 2024. This review identified publication trends, annual growth, and the most prolific authors, institutions, and countries in the field. We also identified networks of co-authorship, as well as the most influential citations by authors, journals, and popular documents. Furthermore, the analysis revealed the key works that established the intellectual and conceptual framework for the field of future cities. The conceptual structure of future cities studies revealed four main clusters: first, smart cities and decision-making; second, urban planning and future development; third, sustainable development; and fourth, city and human studies. This process identified research gaps and potential future directions. In terms of future research directions, the findings suggest a lack of studies that explicitly link the theme of "future cities" with concepts such as urban identity and artificial intelligence, despite AI's growing importance in recent years. This observation highlights the need for increased research efforts in these areas. Furthermore, addressing concerns about intelligence requires research of a contradictory nature. The study concludes with a valuable reference for researchers, urban planners, architects, social scientists, and specialists in related fields of research, including technology and the environment. It emphasizes that the major challenge facing urban planners is to integrate these disciplines into a unified and coherent system that promotes human well-being in a sustainable future. © 2025 The Author(s) |
