A scientometric analysis of the housing affordability literature

Abstract

Interest in the global unaffordable housing crisis is evident in its burgeoning publications. However, systematic review of the literature is limited concerning data visualization and mapping of the knowledge structure and worldwide trend of publications on housing. This study seeks to fill this knowledge gap through a quantitative method—scientometric analysis. To this end, three networking tools—CiteSpace, VOSviewer and Gephi—were employed in analysing 11,981 bibliographic records retrieved from Scopus for two decades (1998–2017). The research findings are informative in identifying trends, linkages and gaps in the literature. Besides, they reveal collaboration pattern among countries, academic institutions and publication outlets of housing studies. These have practical implications for policymakers. The findings are indicative of pivotal areas of relatively low research outputs that can be the focus for further research. They are also important for efficient research and development policies for attaining the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in housing.