Visualizing the intellectual structure in urban studies: A journal co-citation analysis (1992-2002)

This paper studied the intellectual structure of urban studies through a co-citation analysis of its thirty-eight representative journals from 1992 to 2002. Relevant journal co-citation data were retrieved from Social SciSearch, and were subjected to cluster analysis, multidimensional scaling, and factor analysis. A cluster-enhanced two-dimensional map was created, showing a noticeable subject variation along the horizontal axis depicting four clusters of journals differentiated into mainstream urban studies, regional science and urban economics, transportation, and real estate finance. The cluster of the mainstream urban studies journals revealed a higher degree of interdisciplinarity than other clusters. The four-factor solution, though not a perfect match for the cluster solution, demonstrated the interrelationships among the overlapping journals loaded high on different factors. The results also showed a strong negative correlation between the coordinates of the horizontal axis and the mean journal correlation coefficients reflecting the subject variation, and a less revealing positive correlation between the coordinates of the vertical axis and the mean journal correlation coefficients.