Bibliometric Analysis of Methodologies and Trends in Participatory Planning Using a Dual Strategy Approach

Abstract

Participatory planning has emerged as an important tool for democratic decision-making in the fields of urban planning, public policies, and social development through involving citizens in governance processes and ensuring transparency and social sustainability. However, its efficient use faces problems related to the colonial past, political centralism, and threats of superficial consensus. The present article discusses the following research problem: In spite of the current scientific interest in participatory planning, there is no systematic bibliometric study of the methodology trends, leadership of institutions, and theme evolution in various temporal and search-strategy settings. To solve the problem, the study performs a bibliometric analysis of the literature on participatory planning identified in the Scopus database with the help of two alternative search strategies. Strategy 1 identified 77 articles (1995-2024) based on the Boolean search query "participatory AND planning" with Social Sciences filtering. Strategy 2 identified 953 articles (2020-2025) with additional filters of open access and English language. The data were analyzed using RStudio and Bibliometrix tools in order to study the dynamics of scientific production, international cooperation, major institutions, authorship, and theme dynamics. Strategy 1 showed low yearly growth (1.41%), but high citation impact (29.01 citations per document) and moderate international cooperation (24.68%). Strategy 2 proved to be a constantly developing strategy (9.96% per year), having high international cooperation (34.21%), and wide theme diversity (23.44 citations per document). Some main topics in both strategies are participatory methods, governance, urban planning, and sustainable development. Emerging technologies like GIS, mobile applications, and artificial intelligence are being used in this field increasingly often. These results clearly show how the concept of participatory planning has progressed from being a developing practice into an interdisciplinary field with many ramifications for inclusive urban governance and the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).