Sustainable Design and Development
Sustainable Design and Development is a research topic within Building and Construction. Science Explorer counts 3.4k research works in it since 1955. 7.6% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.
This cluster of papers covers a wide range of topics related to sustainable design, urban development, and environmental management. It includes discussions on circular economy, resource recovery, green urbanism, climate change, product development, biomimicry, and social innovation.
- Sustainable Design
- Urban Development
- Circular Economy
- Environmental Management
- Resource Recovery
- Green Urbanism
- Climate Change
- Product Development
- Biomimicry
- Social Innovation
- Research works
- 3.4k fractional, since 1955
- In the world top 10%
- 257 per year above
- Top-10% rate
- 7.6% share of its works in the world top 10%
- Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
- +18% the tick is no change
Which countries lead Sustainable Design and Development research?
By volume, Brazil and the United States publish the most (260 and 80 works in 2022–2025).
By volume, 2022–2025
- 1 Brazil 260 works
- 2 United States 80 works
- 3 Spain 44 works
- 4 Italy 42 works
- 5 India 39 works
- 6 Portugal 36 works
- 7 France 35 works
- 8 United Kingdom 34 works
- 9 China 33 works
- 10 Mexico 25 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.
Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.
Which institutions lead Sustainable Design and Development research?
By volume in 2022–2025, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina publishes the most Sustainable Design and Development research, followed by Universidade do Estado de Minas Gerais and Universidade de São Paulo.
By volume, 2022–2025
- 1 Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina Brazil 14 works
- 2 Universidade do Estado de Minas Gerais Brazil 14 works
- 3 Universidade de São Paulo Brazil 10 works
- 4 Universidade Federal de Pernambuco Brazil 9 works
- 5 Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp) Brazil 8 works
- 6 University of Minho Portugal 8 works
- 7 Politecnico di Milano Italy 8 works
- 8 Universidade Federal do Paraná Brazil 7 works
- 9 Universidade de Brasília Brazil 6 works
- 10 Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul Brazil 6 works
Who are the leading researchers in Sustainable Design and Development?
The most-cited researchers publishing on Sustainable Design and Development include Jonathan C. Knowles.
- 1 Jonathan C. Knowles 837 citations
Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.
Where is Sustainable Design and Development research done?
The largest centres of Sustainable Design and Development research in 2022–2025 are São Paulo (Brazil), Florianópolis (Brazil), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) and Belo Horizonte (Brazil). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Florianópolis, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.
Largest cities, 2022–2025
- 1 São Paulo Brazil 42 works
- 2 Florianópolis Brazil 24 works
- 3 Rio de Janeiro Brazil 23 works
- 4 Belo Horizonte Brazil 19 works
- 5 Recife Brazil 13 works
- 6 Curitiba Brazil 12 works
- 7 Lisbon Portugal 12 works
- 8 London United Kingdom 10 works
- 9 Paris France 10 works
- 10 Braga Portugal 10 works
Where it is the local speciality
- FlorianópolisBR · 24.4 works28×
- Rio de JaneiroBR · 23.5 works8.1×
- São PauloBR · 41.7 works7.5×
Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Sustainable Design and Development than the world average.
Where is the best place to study Sustainable Design and Development?
Among universities, judged by research, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, University of Minho and Universidade do Estado de Minas Gerais 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.
One dot per university in the table below. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.
| # | University | Score | Top 10% | Specialisation | Works | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina Brazil | 67.5 | 2.3% | 24.5× | 14 | +233.9% |
| 2 | University of Minho Portugal | 65.0 | 14.4% | 24.9× | 8 | -20.2% |
| 3 | Universidade do Estado de Minas Gerais Brazil | 58.7 | 0.0% | 153.8× | 14 | +261.2% |
| 4 | Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp) Brazil | 49.7 | 6.0% | 10.7× | 8 | +83.4% |
| 5 | Universidade de São Paulo Brazil | 45.4 | 10.7% | 6.4× | 10 | +87.9% |
| 6 | Universidade Federal de Pernambuco Brazil | 39.6 | 1.2% | 19.6× | 9 | — |
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 Sustainable Design and Development research growing?
Output in 2018–2022 was 18% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Sustainable Design and Development.
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.