The Impacts of Urban Form on Carbon Emissions: A Comprehensive Review

Abstract

As a result of global climate change and urban development, the interaction between urban form and carbon emissions has become a frontier issue and a key area of carbon emission research. This paper presents a scientometric analysis of 2439 academic publications between 2002 and 2021 on urban form and carbon emissions to explore the current state of global research and future development potential. Citespace and VOSviewer were the primary analysis tools. The results showed the following: (1) The number of articles published on urban form and carbon emission research shows an increasing trend, especially after 2012. (2) Scientific research institutions and authors in developed countries paid attention sooner to the urban ecological environment. With the deepening of economic globalization, developing countries began to pay more attention to the urban environment. (3) Through an analysis of keyword clusters, timelines, and stacked area charts, the development of the urban form and carbon emissions can be divided into the following three stages. The first is the budding stage, which is characterized by preliminary research on the atmospheric environmental impact factors. The second stage is the development stage, with urban areas becoming the leading research object of carbon theory. The third stage is the mature stage, which is characterized by an emphasis on the optimization of carbon emissions. (4) Finally, the influence of urban form on carbon emissions includes four main aspects: land use, built environment, transportation networks, and development patterns.