A Comprehensive Review of Urban Expansion and Its Driving Factors

Ming Li, Yongwang Cao, Jin Dai, Jianxin Song and Mengyin Liang ()
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Ming Li: Technology Innovation Center of Land Engineering, Key Laboratory of Land Consolidation and Rehabilitatfion Land Consolidation and Rehabilitation Centre (Technology Innovation Center of Land Science), MNR, Beijing 100035, China
Yongwang Cao: Guangzhou Academy of Social Sciences, Guangzhou 510410, China
Jin Dai: China Land Surveying and Planning Institute, Beijing 100035, China
Jianxin Song: Technology Innovation Center of Land Engineering, Key Laboratory of Land Consolidation and Rehabilitatfion Land Consolidation and Rehabilitation Centre (Technology Innovation Center of Land Science), MNR, Beijing 100035, China
Mengyin Liang: Technology Innovation Center of Land Engineering, Key Laboratory of Land Consolidation and Rehabilitatfion Land Consolidation and Rehabilitation Centre (Technology Innovation Center of Land Science), MNR, Beijing 100035, China

Land, 2025, vol. 14, issue 8, 1-20

Abstract: Urban expansion has a profound impact on both society and the environment. In this study, VOSviewer 1.6.16 and CiteSpace 6.3.R1 were used to conduct a bibliometric analysis of 2987 articles published during the period of 1992–2022 from the Web of Science database in order to identify the research hotspots and trends of urban expansion and its driving factors. The number of articles significantly increased during the period of 1992–2022. The spatiotemporal characteristics and driving forces of urban expansion, urban growth models and simulations, and the impacts of urban expansion were the main research topics. The rate of urban expansion showed regional differences. Socioeconomic factors, political and institutional factors, natural factors, path effects, and proximity effects were the main driving factors. Urban expansion promoted economic growth, occupied cultivated land, and affected ecological environments. Big data and deep learning techniques were recently applied due to advancements in information techniques. With the increasing awareness of environmental protection, the number of studies on environmental impacts and spatial planning regulations has increased. Some political and institutional factors, such as subsidies, taxation, spatial planning, new development strategies, regulation policies, and economic industries, had controversial or unknown impacts. Further research on these factors and their mechanisms is needed. A limitation of this study is that articles which were not indexed, were not included in bibliometric analysis. Further studies can review these articles and conduct comparative research to capture the diversity.

Keywords: urban expansion; urban sprawl; urbanisation; mapping knowledge domains; bibliometric method; driving factors (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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