Abstract
The concept of neighbourhood remains contested and negotiated, and how to define it continues to be subject to debate. Neighbourhood is important for understanding social processes, behavioural characteristics, policy implementation and development initiatives. Until now, no attempt has been made to statistically characterise the field. This study aims to provide a macroscopic overview using bibliometric analysis of the main characteristics of neighbourhood research publications in order to understand the academic landscape. This characterisation will help to understand the scholarship nuances, which are often difficult to grasp by reading selected academic papers. The study analyses the emergence and evolution of the concept of neighbourhood in published research, its global regional distribution and extent of collaboration between regions, the contribution of institutions, author and journal productivity, as well as scholarship clusters of neighbourhood publications. The paper shows that the subfield of neighbourhood research is predominantly under the hegemony of the United States, given its major role in publication records, institutional contributions and international collaborations. While most studies have concentrated on social and environmental aspects of neighbourhood, topics related to the local economy of neighbourhoods are sparse, suggesting a major gap in the literature.
Highlights
The essence of the idea of neighbourhood is a local place of lived experiences
The relevance of neighbourhoods as spatial units can be seen from different perspectives, including planning and strategic policies [1,2], population sampling [3], understanding behavioural characteristics [4] and social processes, such as immigration, unemployment and housing quality [5]
The objective of the present paper is to provide a macroscopic overview using bibliometric analysis of the main characteristics of neighbourhood research publications in order to understand the academic landscape
Summary
Neighbourhood as an academic concept and research unit continues to attract scholarly interest from different disciplines, including but not limited to urban planning, community development, geography and sociology. This increasing attention could be attributed to its embodiment as a microcosm of broader urban socio-ecological landscapes. One author of [7] conceptualised neighbourhoods as socio-territorial units, encompassing four dimensions: the place-based, involving physical, topology, morphological, and architectural aspects of a neighbourhood; local human activities, including mobility and social organisations; unique cultural characteristics and personalities.
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