Land Acquisition for Development and Infrastructure Projects: A Global Bibliometric Analysis (2016–2025)

Abstract

The process of acquiring land to develop and build infrastructures is an important subject of debate in legal, governance, and even socio-economic spheres, but the literature is still spread across disciplines so that it is difficult to integrate knowledge and synthesize evidence. The research fills this gap by mapping the intellectual fabric and development of the research on the compulsory land acquisition in the context of infrastructure and development systematically. The quantitative bibliometric design was used to retrieve records in the Scopus-indexed records on 3 February 2026. A predetermined search strategy and PRISMA-based screening were used to find 812 records, of which 469 publications in English language (20162025) were included. With the help of Bibliometrix (R) and VOS viewer, performance indicators (annual growth rate, citation impact, leading sources, country productivity, and collaboration patterns) were performed, as well as science-mapping methods (keywords co-occurrence, bibliographic coupling, thematic mapping, and co-authorship networks). The findings indicate the stable increase in publications (3.25% per year growth rate) and their highest point in 2022 and the middle level of international collaborations (22.6%). In Bradford Law, a central nucleus of publication is seen to be headed by Land Use Policy and Land. The biggest contribution to the number of publications is made by China and the United States and some European countries show higher average impact of citation. Thematic analysis reveals the dominant clusters of acquisition processes, compensation and livelihood, governance and policy mechanisms, tenure insecurity, and conflict dynamics, and country-specific cases study orientations are strong. In terms of Information Science, the research can add to knowledge organization, scholarly communication analysis as well as research evaluation by systematically organizing a policy area with fragmented knowledge and determining intellectual focal points, systems of collaboration, and uncharted research frontiers. The results can be used as an evidence base of the interdisciplinary integration, enhanced visibility of research and policy-based knowledge management of land governance and infrastructural development.