Urban Forestry: A Bibliometric Analysis

Abstract

This study presents a bibliometric analysis of urban forestry research to map its intellectual structure, thematic evolution, and collaboration patterns. A total of 468 Scopus-indexed documents published between 2000 and 2026 were analyzed using VOSviewer through keyword co-occurrence, overlay, and density visualizations, co-authorship analysis at the author, institution, and country levels, and citation analysis. The results show that the field is organized around five interrelated themes: ecological sustainability, management and governance, human–tree interactions, tree planting and canopy management, and greenspace-oriented urbanization. The overlay map indicates a shift from management, policy, and participation topics toward climate change, ecosystem services, biodiversity, carbon sequestration, and remote sensing in recent years. Citation analysis highlights foundational works on the definition, costs, ecosystem benefits, and governance of urban forestry. Co-authorship networks reveal several cohesive research groups connected by a few influential scholars, while institutional collaboration remains limited. At the country level, the United States is the dominant hub, followed by Canada, China, Italy, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Brazil. These findings provide an overview of the development of urban forestry research and indicate directions for future studies.