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A scientometric analysis of the housing affordability literature

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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.

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Acknowledgements

This paper forms part of a research project entitled ‘Affordable Housing Supply: A Comparative Study between Developed and Developing Economies’, from which other deliverables have been produced with different objectives but sharing common background and methodology. The authors are grateful to the Research Grants Council (RGC) and the Department of Building and Real Estate, Hong Polytechnic University, for their financial support in conducting this study. The authors are also thankful to the editors and anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments that helped to improve the quality of this paper.

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  1. Building and Real Estate Department, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, People’s Republic of China

    Michael Atafo Adabre, Albert P. C. Chan & Amos Darko

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  1. Michael Atafo Adabre
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  2. Albert P. C. Chan
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Correspondence to Michael Atafo Adabre.

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Adabre, M.A., Chan, A.P.C. & Darko, A. A scientometric analysis of the housing affordability literature. J Hous and the Built Environ 36, 1501–1533 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10901-021-09825-0

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