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Arid Land Geography ›› 2022, Vol. 45 ›› Issue (2): 578-592.doi: 10.12118/j.issn.1000–6060.2021.219

• Regional Development • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Visual analysis of urbanization in arid land based on CiteSpace

ZHOU Chunshan1,2(),CHEN Kairui1,Bahram ZIKIRYA3()   

  1. 1. The School of Geography and Planning, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510275, Guangdong, China
    2. Key Laboratory of the Sustainable Development of Xinjiang’s Historical and Cultural Tourism, Xinjiang University, Urumqi 830049, Xinjiang, China
    3. College of Tourism, Xinjiang University, Urumqi 830049, Xinjiang, China
  • Received:2021-05-11 Revised:2021-09-15 Online:2022-03-25 Published:2022-04-02
  • Contact: ZIKIRYA Bahram E-mail:zhoucs@mail.sysu.edu.cn;zikeliya5@mail2.sysu.edu.cn

Abstract:

Arid land, which is a typical region of western China and plays an important role in China’s regional development strategy, has attracted significant attention. As a significant path for China’s development, urbanization has become a vital topic in academic research. Influenced by national macropolicies, relevant research on arid land urbanization is constantly emerging, and the knowledge framework is continuously evolving. Although there are related reviews in specific fields, no comprehensive review has been conducted on the knowledge evolution of urbanization in arid land. This paper summarizes the knowledge evolution process of relevant research on urbanization in arid land and analyzes research trends and hot spots. It is expected to make some basic contributions to the next stage of research, provide support for rethinking urbanization in arid land, and promote high-quality development and new urbanization in arid land. To systematically sort out the research overview and knowledge evolution and have a deeper understanding of the research in different periods, we analyzed 2703 articles on urbanization in arid land from 1984 to 2020 using bibliometric analysis and knowledge map visualized technology. We consider research papers on urbanization in arid land in the collection of Chinese core journals (A Guide to the Core Journal of China, Chinese Science Citation Database, Chinese Social Science Citation Index) and dissertations in China National Knowledge Infrastructure as the object of study. The quantitative characteristics of published papers, scientific cooperation network of core authors and institutions, research topic and historical research hotspots in different periods are analyzed by time distribution, co-occurrence knowledge mapping of authors and institutions, co-occurrence knowledge mapping of keywords and burst term test separately, and their evolution are summarized. The research suggests the following. (1) The research stages can be divided into four periods, and many important institutions and scholars have emerged. The number of related papers increases first and then decreases, and the research period can be divided into four stages: naissance stages (1984—2001), rapid stages (2002—2010), flourishingly stages (2011—2015), and maturity stages (2016—2020). Apart from the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research in CAS and the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, the main institutions are academies in arid land. Meanwhile, many scholars contribute significantly. (2) New research topics and hotspots are constantly emerging. In the knowledge evolution process, scholars focus on small towns and township enterprises, process and power of urbanization, urbanization of Xinjiang production and construction corps, new urbanization, coupling, and coordination of ecological environment. Industrialization, Silk Road Economic Belt, and characteristic towns have also become historical hotspots. (3) The research on urbanization in arid land is closely related to the policy background in each period. Related research is essential in implementing national and regional development strategies and exploring urban and rural development in arid land. In the future, research on urbanization in arid land should focus more on high-quality development.

Key words: urbanization, arid land, research theme, bibliometric analysis, CiteSpace