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Subfield · Social Sciences

Geography, Planning and Development research

Geography, Planning and Development is a subfield of Social Sciences. Science Explorer counts 180k research works in it since 1950. 19.5% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

In short: science that studies the terrestrial surface, the societies that inhabit it and the territories, landscapes, places or regions that form it when interacting with each other.

Research works
180k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
35k
per year above
Top-10% rate
19.5%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Topics
15
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
+57%
the tick is no change

What is Geography, Planning and Development research about, and what is growing?

By the world's output in 2019–23, its most used keywords are Rural Development, Community Empowerment, Local Government, Village Fund, Globalization, Tourism. Gaining share since 2009–13: Local Government, Village Fund, Community Empowerment, Rural Development, Economic Development. Losing share: Geospatial Crowdsourcing, Volunteered Geographic Information, Global Development, Policy Analysis.

▲ gaining share of this field◆ holding its share▼ losing share

Size is the world's fractional works in 2019–23 in the topics tagged with each word; colour compares the word's share of this field with 2009–13. Each links to the topic it comes from most.

All 39 words, with their numbers
  1. Rural Development16k▲ 5.5×2 topics
  2. Community Empowerment16k▲ 8.3×2 topics
  3. Local Government15k▲ 15×1 topic
  4. Village Fund15k▲ 15×1 topic
  5. Globalization9,898▲ 1.27×3 topics
  6. Tourism9,627▲ 1.48×3 topics
  7. Economic Development8,270▲ 1.65×1 topic
  8. Policy8,270▲ 1.65×1 topic
  9. Geography8,186◆ 1.04×2 topics
  10. Space7,842▲ 1.16×2 topics
  11. Affect7,200▲ 1.22×1 topic
  12. Multispecies Ethnography7,200▲ 1.22×1 topic
  13. Cultural Geography5,923▼ 0.80×2 topics
  14. Pilgrimage5,281▼ 0.80×1 topic
  15. Religious Tourism5,281▼ 0.80×1 topic
  16. Geospatial Crowdsourcing5,171▼ 0.37×1 topic
  17. Volunteered Geographic Information5,171▼ 0.37×1 topic
  18. Pacific Islands3,117▼ 0.60×1 topic
  19. settlement3,117▼ 0.60×1 topic
  20. Geography Education2,079▼ 0.66×1 topic
  21. Spatial Thinking2,079▼ 0.66×1 topic
  22. Cultural Heritage1,972▼ 0.68×2 topics
  23. Geodesy1,574▼ 0.50×1 topic
  24. Map Projections1,574▼ 0.50×1 topic
  25. Public Administration1,488▼ 0.48×1 topic
  26. Spatial Planning1,488▼ 0.48×1 topic
  27. Territorial Cohesion1,145▼ 0.59×1 topic
  28. Urban Planning1,145▼ 0.59×1 topic
  29. Academic Discourse986▼ 0.50×1 topic
  30. Public Policy986▼ 0.50×1 topic
  31. Sustainable Development908▼ 0.82×2 topics
  32. National Identity827◆ 0.89×1 topic
  33. Regional Development827◆ 0.89×1 topic
  34. Heterotopia642▼ 0.76×1 topic
  35. Spatial Turn642▼ 0.76×1 topic
  36. Qualitative Research530◆ 0.89×1 topic
  37. Teoría Fundamentada530◆ 0.89×1 topic
  38. Global Development82▼ 0.46×1 topic
  39. Policy Analysis82▼ 0.46×1 topic

Which countries lead Geography, Planning and Development research?

On research quality in 2022–2025, the United States, China and the United Kingdom rank highest in Geography, Planning and Development. By volume, Indonesia and Hungary publish the most (13k and 5.7k works in 2022–2025).

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 United States · #1 all time 19.4% top 10% · 4.2k works
  2. 2 China · #5 all time 32.2% top 10% · 1.5k works
  3. 3 United Kingdom · #2 all time 29.4% top 10% · 2k works
  4. 4 Australia · #3 all time 31.5% top 10% · 911 works
  5. 5 Germany · #6 all time 20.7% top 10% · 1.1k works
  6. 6 Indonesia · #7 all time 8.9% top 10% · 13k works
  7. 7 India · #19 all time 22.7% top 10% · 702 works
  8. 8 Hungary · #14 all time 8.3% top 10% · 5.7k works
  9. 9 Spain · #10 all time 13.5% top 10% · 1.2k works
  10. 10 Canada · #4 all time 20.3% top 10% · 740 works

The track on each row is that row’s top-10% rate. The ranking itself is the composite score, which the rate is only one part of.

Of 29 countries ranked in Geography, Planning and Development. Composite of field-normalised excellence (50%), output (30%) and citations (20%); the bracket is the all-time rank.

All countries ranked in Geography, Planning and Development

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Indonesia 13k works
  2. 2 Hungary 5.7k works
  3. 3 United States 4.2k works
  4. 4 United Kingdom 2k works
  5. 5 China 1.5k works
  6. 6 Poland 1.3k works
  7. 7 Spain 1.2k works
  8. 8 France 1.1k works
  9. 9 Germany 1.1k works
  10. 10 Brazil 913 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

Indonesia: 41.6%Hungary: 17.6%United States: 12.8%United Kingdom: 6.0%6 others listed: 21.8%42%largest
Indonesia13k · 41.6%Hungary5,702 · 17.6%United States4,157 · 12.8%United Kingdom1,957 · 6.0%6 others listed7,064 · 21.8%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Geography, Planning and Development research?

University of Cambridge (United Kingdom) ranks first in Geography, Planning and Development on research quality in 2022–2025, followed by University of Oxford and Australian National University.

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 University of Cambridge United Kingdom · Cambridge · #5 all time 33.9% top 10% · 95 works
  2. 2 University of Oxford United Kingdom · Oxford · #2 all time 36.2% top 10% · 87 works
  3. 3 Australian National University Australia · Canberra · #1 all time 32.1% top 10% · 96 works
  4. 4 University of Debrecen Hungary · Debrecen · #65 all time 6.3% top 10% · 614 works
  5. 5 The University of Melbourne Australia · Melbourne · #7 all time 36.3% top 10% · 69 works
  6. 6 University College London United Kingdom · London · #3 all time 44.7% top 10% · 70 works
  7. 7 Ludovika University of Public Service Hungary · Budapest · #78 all time 5.4% top 10% · 718 works
  8. 8 Eötvös Loránd University Hungary · Budapest · #89 all time 9.5% top 10% · 393 works
  9. 9 University of Pecs Hungary · Pécs 8.9% top 10% · 356 works
  10. 10 Corvinus University of Budapest Hungary · Budapest 16.8% top 10% · 224 works

The track on each row is that row’s top-10% rate. The ranking itself is the composite score, which the rate is only one part of.

Of 99 institutions above the floor of 40 fractional works in Geography, Planning and Development.

Top 100 Geography, Planning and Development institutions

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Ludovika University of Public Service Hungary 718 works
  2. 2 University of Debrecen Hungary 615 works
  3. 3 Eötvös Loránd University Hungary 393 works
  4. 4 University of Pecs Hungary 356 works
  5. 5 University of Szeged Hungary 338 works
  6. 6 Universitas Patria Artha Indonesia 275 works
  7. 7 University of Miskolc Hungary 270 works
  8. 8 Institut Agama Islam Negeri Bengkulu Indonesia 250 works
  9. 9 Corvinus University of Budapest Hungary 224 works
  10. 10 University of Pembangunan Nasional Veteran Jawa Timur Indonesia 224 works

Who are the leading researchers in Geography, Planning and Development?

Among the most productive authors in Geography, Planning and Development, Pierre Bourdıeu, Yann LeCun and Bryan S. Turner rank highest on the composite score.

  1. 1 Pierre Bourdıeu France · #2 worldwide 10k citations · 235 works
  2. 2 Yann LeCun United States · #219 worldwide 5.4k citations · 123 works
  3. 3 Bryan S. Turner United States · #337 worldwide 1.9k citations · 273 works
  4. 4 David Harvey United Kingdom · #340 worldwide 2k citations · 112 works
  5. 5 Hans‐Peter Kriegel Germany · #630 worldwide 5.7k citations · 99 works
  6. 6 Nigel Thrift United Kingdom · #963 worldwide 1.2k citations · 105 works
  7. 7 William Boyd Australia · #1,045 worldwide 1.7k citations · 117 works
  8. 8 John Urry United Kingdom · #1,059 worldwide 2k citations · 95 works
  9. 9 András Jakab Switzerland · #1,312 worldwide 1.3k citations · 93 works
  10. 10 Daniel Simberloff United States · #1,360 worldwide 2.9k citations · 130 works

Re-ranked on the composite score from the 3,601 highest-output authors in Geography, Planning and Development. Identities come from OpenAlex author disambiguation, which occasionally merges or splits people.

Top 100 Geography, Planning and Development researchers

Where is Geography, Planning and Development research done?

The largest centres of Geography, Planning and Development research in 2022–2025 are Budapest (Hungary), Jakarta (Indonesia), Surabaya (Indonesia) and Makassar (Indonesia). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Lihue, Dunaújváros and Sopron.

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Budapest Hungary 3.2k works
  2. 2 Jakarta Indonesia 1.1k works
  3. 3 Surabaya Indonesia 819 works
  4. 4 Makassar Indonesia 769 works
  5. 5 Bandung Indonesia 759 works
  6. 6 Medan Indonesia 701 works
  7. 7 Debrecen Hungary 638 works
  8. 8 Malang Indonesia 565 works
  9. 9 Yogyakarta Indonesia 522 works
  10. 10 Semarang Indonesia 466 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. LihueUS · 83.4 works140×
  2. DunaújvárosHU · 24.0 works77×
  3. SopronHU · 95.3 works65×
  4. EgerHU · 85.7 works63×
  5. MiskolcHU · 279.6 works53×
  6. DebrecenHU · 638.3 works50×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Geography, Planning and Development than the world average.

See Geography, Planning and Development on the map

Geography, Planning and Development research by country

The best places for Geography, Planning and Development research inside each country, with that country's researchers and world standing.

Where is the best place to study Geography, Planning and Development?

Among universities, judged by research, Ludovika University of Public Service, Corvinus University of Budapest and University of Miskolc score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%10%20%mean 10.54%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →Ludovika University of Public Service: 718, 5.4%Corvinus University of Budapest: 224, 16.8%University of Miskolc: 270, 8.1%Budapest University of Economics and Business: 144, 15.9%University of Debrecen: 614, 6.3%Obuda University: 111, 9.1%Eötvös Loránd University: 393, 9.5%Magyar Agrár- és Élettudományi Egyetem: 140, 8.2%University of Sopron: 73, 17.2%University of Pecs: 356, 8.9%Corvinus University …Budapest University …University of MiskolcLudovika University …
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the table below. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1Ludovika University of Public Service Hungary 63.55.4%152.0×718 +1486.0%
2Corvinus University of Budapest Hungary 61.216.8%56.2×224 +139.6%
3University of Miskolc Hungary 60.98.1%51.9×270 +238.0%
4Budapest University of Economics and Business Hungary 60.615.9%93.5×144 +385.9%
5University of Debrecen Hungary 58.26.3%50.9×614 +85.1%
6Obuda University Hungary 58.29.1%32.4×111 +448.5%
7Eötvös Loránd University Hungary 57.49.5%34.5×393 +72.9%
8Magyar Agrár- és Élettudományi Egyetem Hungary 56.78.2%34.5×140 +159.2%
9University of Sopron Hungary 55.217.2%61.1×73 +138.0%
10University of Pecs Hungary 54.68.9%41.7×356 +55.3%

Universities only. Score blends excellence (30%), specialisation (25%), size (20%), growth (15%) and international reach (10%), 2015–2022; growth compares 2010–14 with 2015–19.

Is Geography, Planning and Development research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 57% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2023. The fastest-growing topics are Local Governance and Development, Local Governance and Planning and Geographies of human-animal interactions.

19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon — one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

  1. Local Governance and Development+5380%
  2. Local Governance and Planning+307%
  3. Geographies of human-animal interactions+289%
  4. Nationalism and Cultural Identity+284%
  5. Geography and Environmental Studies in Latin America+241%
  6. Hungarian Social, Economic and Educational Studies+236%
← shrinkingno changegrowing →

Growth in output from 2005–09 to 2015–19. Every topic is a page of its own.

What does Geography, Planning and Development include?

Geographic Information Systems Studies: 30k fractional worksLocal Governance and Development: 26k fractional worksGeographies of human-ani…21kGeographies of human-animal interactions: 21k fractional worksHungarian Social, Econom…21kHungarian Social, Economic and Educational Studies: 21k fractional worksReligious Tourism and Spaces: 19k fractional worksPacific and Southeast Asian Studies: 17k fractional worksHistorical Geography and…10kHistorical Geography and Cartography: 10k fractional worksGeography Education and Pedagogy: 9,503 fractional worksLocal Governance and Planning: 6,347 fractional worksHistorical Geography and Geographical Thought: 5,825 fractional worksGalician and Iberian cultural studies: 5,190 fractional worksNationalism and Cultural Identity: 3,057 fractional works

Area is fractional works in that topic. Every name below is a page of its own.