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Subfield · Social Sciences

Urban Studies research

Urban Studies is a subfield of Social Sciences. Science Explorer counts 274k research works in it since 1950. 18.0% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

In short: interdisciplinary field that examines the development and dynamics of cities and urban spaces.

Research works
274k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
49k
per year above
Top-10% rate
18.0%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Topics
19
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
+31%
the tick is no change

What is Urban Studies research about, and what is growing?

By the world's output in 2019–23, its most used keywords are Globalization, Urbanization, Community Engagement, Segregation, Spatial Planning, Public Policy. Gaining share since 2009–13: Community Development, Migration, Graffiti, Street Art, Urban Space. Losing share: Creative Economy, Cultural Policy, Urban Development, Economic Development.

▲ 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 40 words, with their numbers
  1. Globalization31k▲ 1.17×6 topics
  2. Urbanization28k▲ 1.29×5 topics
  3. Community Engagement21k◆ 0.96×3 topics
  4. Segregation18k▲ 1.22×2 topics
  5. Spatial Planning15k◆ 1.14×2 topics
  6. Public Policy14k▲ 1.38×2 topics
  7. Sustainability14k▲ 1.38×2 topics
  8. Citizenship13k▼ 0.83×2 topics
  9. Social Innovation12k▼ 0.81×2 topics
  10. Economic Development12k▼ 0.79×2 topics
  11. Social Movements12k▲ 1.22×1 topic
  12. Territoriality12k▲ 1.22×1 topic
  13. Solidarity Economy12k▼ 0.81×1 topic
  14. Territorial Governance12k▼ 0.81×1 topic
  15. Local Governance10k▲ 1.50×2 topics
  16. Sustainable Development10k▲ 1.32×3 topics
  17. Community Participation9,444◆ 1.09×2 topics
  18. Urban Development9,438▼ 0.64×2 topics
  19. Creative Economy9,024▼ 0.63×1 topic
  20. Cultural Policy9,024▼ 0.63×1 topic
  21. Social Dynamics8,040▲ 1.25×1 topic
  22. Urban Ethnography8,040▲ 1.25×1 topic
  23. Slum Upgrading7,434▲ 1.27×1 topic
  24. Urban Poverty7,434▲ 1.27×1 topic
  25. Social Inequality6,910▲ 1.27×2 topics
  26. Latin America5,962▲ 1.23×1 topic
  27. Residential5,962▲ 1.23×1 topic
  28. Social Sustainability5,303▼ 0.83×2 topics
  29. Shrinking Cities5,254◆ 0.88×1 topic
  30. Urban Decline5,254◆ 0.88×1 topic
  31. Cultural Heritage4,608▲ 1.48×2 topics
  32. Urban Space3,612▲ 1.54×2 topics
  33. Neoliberalism3,293◆ 0.93×1 topic
  34. Urbanism3,293◆ 0.93×1 topic
  35. Spatial Network Analysis3,065◆ 1.03×1 topic
  36. Urban Structure3,065◆ 1.03×1 topic
  37. Community Development2,903▲ 3.4×2 topics
  38. Graffiti2,865▲ 1.55×1 topic
  39. Street Art2,865▲ 1.55×1 topic
  40. Migration2,254▲ 2.9×2 topics

Which countries lead Urban Studies research?

On research quality in 2022–2025, China, the United Kingdom and the United States rank highest in Urban Studies. By volume, Brazil and France publish the most (12k and 5.8k works in 2022–2025).

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 China · #3 all time 23.4% top 10% · 4.8k works
  2. 2 United Kingdom · #1 all time 31.7% top 10% · 2.3k works
  3. 3 United States · #2 all time 18.9% top 10% · 3.9k works
  4. 4 Germany · #6 all time 26.8% top 10% · 1.1k works
  5. 5 Italy · #10 all time 23.6% top 10% · 1.1k works
  6. 6 Australia · #4 all time 31.6% top 10% · 878 works
  7. 7 Canada · #5 all time 16.7% top 10% · 1.5k works
  8. 8 Netherlands · #7 all time 37.9% top 10% · 521 works
  9. 9 France · #9 all time 5.0% top 10% · 5.8k works
  10. 10 South Africa · #8 all time 31.8% top 10% · 626 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 42 countries ranked in Urban Studies. Composite of field-normalised excellence (50%), output (30%) and citations (20%); the bracket is the all-time rank.

All countries ranked in Urban Studies

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Brazil 12k works
  2. 2 France 5.8k works
  3. 3 China 4.8k works
  4. 4 United States 3.9k works
  5. 5 Türkiye 2.6k works
  6. 6 United Kingdom 2.3k works
  7. 7 Poland 1.7k works
  8. 8 Spain 1.6k works
  9. 9 Canada 1.5k works
  10. 10 India 1.4k 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.

Brazil: 31.9%France: 15.4%China: 12.8%United States: 10.4%6 others listed: 29.5%32%largest
Brazil12k · 31.9%France5,814 · 15.4%China4,839 · 12.8%United States3,918 · 10.4%6 others listed11k · 29.5%

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

Which institutions lead Urban Studies research?

University College London (United Kingdom) ranks first in Urban Studies on research quality in 2022–2025, followed by Politecnico di Milano and The University of Melbourne.

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 University College London United Kingdom · London · #1 all time 48.5% top 10% · 130 works
  2. 2 Politecnico di Milano Italy · Milan · #21 all time 32.8% top 10% · 147 works
  3. 3 The University of Melbourne Australia · Melbourne · #12 all time 38.3% top 10% · 122 works
  4. 4 University of Manchester United Kingdom · Manchester · #2 all time 43.8% top 10% · 80 works
  5. 5 Cardiff University United Kingdom · Cardiff · #16 all time 44.8% top 10% · 68 works
  6. 6 University of Amsterdam Netherlands · Amsterdam · #9 all time 49.6% top 10% · 67 works
  7. 7 Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology Ghana · Kumasi · #60 all time 45.7% top 10% · 68 works
  8. 8 University of Sheffield United Kingdom · Sheffield · #5 all time 39.2% top 10% · 65 works
  9. 9 Universidade de São Paulo Brazil · São Paulo · #34 all time 7.2% top 10% · 496 works
  10. 10 University of Johannesburg South Africa · Johannesburg · #37 all time 36.7% top 10% · 89 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 102 institutions above the floor of 40 fractional works in Urban Studies.

Top 100 Urban Studies institutions

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Universidade de São PauloBrazil 496 works
  2. 2 Universidade Federal do Rio de JaneiroBrazil 433 works
  3. 3 Universidade do Estado do Rio de JaneiroBrazil 299 works
  4. 4 Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do SulBrazil 287 works
  5. 5 Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp)Brazil 282 works
  6. 6 Universidade Federal de Minas GeraisBrazil 276 works
  7. 7 Universidade Federal do ParáBrazil 265 works
  8. 8 Universidade de BrasíliaBrazil 260 works
  9. 9 Universidade Federal FluminenseBrazil 246 works
  10. 10 Universidade Federal de PernambucoBrazil 240 works

Who are the leading researchers in Urban Studies?

Among the most productive authors in Urban Studies, Pierre Bourdıeu, Michel Foucault and Bruno Latour rank highest on the composite score.

  1. 1 Pierre Bourdıeu France · #2 worldwide 10k citations · 235 works
  2. 2 Michel Foucault Poland · #5 worldwide 4.6k citations · 194 works
  3. 3 Bruno Latour France · #46 worldwide 2k citations · 198 works
  4. 4 Loïc Wacquant United States · #89 worldwide 3.1k citations · 153 works
  5. 5 William J. Baumöl United States · #108 worldwide 3.6k citations · 187 works
  6. 6 Manuel Castells United States · #259 worldwide 1.1k citations · 160 works
  7. 7 David Harvey United Kingdom · #340 worldwide 2k citations · 112 works
  8. 8 Nigel Thrift United Kingdom · #963 worldwide 1.2k citations · 105 works
  9. 9 Olivier Blanchard United States · #979 worldwide 2.2k citations · 165 works
  10. 10 John Urry United Kingdom · #1,059 worldwide 2k citations · 95 works

Re-ranked on the composite score from the 4,016 highest-output authors in Urban Studies. Identities come from OpenAlex author disambiguation, which occasionally merges or splits people.

Top 100 Urban Studies researchers

Where is Urban Studies research done?

The largest centres of Urban Studies research in 2022–2025 are São Paulo (Brazil), Paris (France), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) and Beijing (China). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Várzea Grande, Urbana and Marabá.

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 São Paulo Brazil 1.8k works
  2. 2 Paris France 1.7k works
  3. 3 Rio de Janeiro Brazil 1.3k works
  4. 4 Beijing China 826 works
  5. 5 London United Kingdom 603 works
  6. 6 Belo Horizonte Brazil 492 works
  7. 7 Madrid Spain 487 works
  8. 8 Istanbul Türkiye 479 works
  9. 9 Brasília Brazil 475 works
  10. 10 Lisbon Portugal 415 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. Várzea GrandeBR · 21.7 works29×
  2. UrbanaUS · 35.7 works20×
  3. MarabáBR · 43.9 works20×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Urban Studies than the world average.

See Urban Studies on the map

Urban Studies research by country

The best places for Urban Studies research inside each country, with that country's researchers and world standing.

Where is the best place to study Urban Studies?

Among universities, judged by research, Ardhi University, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and Universidade Federal do Pará 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%20%40%60%mean 23.97%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →Ardhi University: 33, 37.0%Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology: 68, 45.7%Universidade Federal do Pará: 265, 4.2%University of Zimbabwe: 34, 33.6%University College London: 130, 48.5%Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro: 433, 5.4%University of the Arts London: 26, 22.4%Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro: 299, 4.9%Latvian Academy of Culture: 30, 18.2%Cracow University of Technology: 39, 19.8%Kwame Nkrumah Univer…Ardhi UniversityUniversity of ZimbabweUniversidade Federal…
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
1 Ardhi UniversityTanzania 66.937.0%40.0×33 +686.6%
2 Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and TechnologyGhana 64.745.7%6.1×68 +133.5%
3 Universidade Federal do ParáBrazil 59.34.2%11.6×265 +195.0%
4 University of ZimbabweZimbabwe 57.733.6%8.6×34 +117.0%
5 University College LondonUnited Kingdom 56.948.5%1.7×130 +80.7%
6 Universidade Federal do Rio de JaneiroBrazil 56.25.4%10.0×433 +71.1%
7 University of the Arts LondonUnited Kingdom 55.622.4%12.5×26 +263.2%
8 Universidade do Estado do Rio de JaneiroBrazil 55.14.9%11.5×299 +108.0%
9 Latvian Academy of CultureLatvia 53.218.2%44.7×30 +318.8%
10 Cracow University of TechnologyPoland 52.919.8%8.5×39 +424.0%

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 Urban Studies research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 31% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2020. The fastest-growing topics are Turkish Urban and Social Issues, Urban Development and Societal Issues and Urban and sociocultural dynamics.

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. Turkish Urban and Social Issues+1173%
  2. Urban Development and Societal Issues+341%
  3. Urban and sociocultural dynamics+330%
  4. International Relations and Autism+312%
  5. Public Spaces through Art+310%
  6. Latin American Urban Studies+272%
  7. Immigration Law and Human Rights-41%
← shrinkingno changegrowing →

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

What does Urban Studies include?

Social Sciences and Governance: 45k fractional worksCultural Industries and Urban Development: 40k fractional worksUrban Development and So…35kUrban Development and Societal Issues: 35k fractional worksUrban and Rural Developm…25kUrban and Rural Development Challenges: 25k fractional worksUrbanization and City Planning: 24k fractional worksUrban and sociocultural dynamics: 23k fractional worksLatin American Urban Stu…18kLatin American Urban Studies: 18k fractional worksUrban Planning and Governance: 13k fractional worksAdvanced Computing and Algorithms: 10k fractional worksPublic Spaces through Art: 8,282 fractional worksUrban Development and Cultural Heritage: 8,046 fractional worksSustainable Urban and Rural Development: 4,920 fractional works

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