Research on Green and Low-Carbon Rural Development in China: A Scientometric Analysis Using CiteSpace (1979–2021)

Abstract

Green and low-carbon rural development (GLRD) is becoming an important way to explore sustainable development in rural areas of China. It is significant for the sustainable development of the rural economy and of society to build a rural carbon sink system, advocate low-carbon emissions in rural areas, and promote the development of rural green industries and rural transformation. In this study, the existing knowledge system of GLRD was analyzed using CiteSpace. Keywords related to GLRD and their occurrence frequency were identified using keyword co-occurrence analysis. The knowledge evolution stages of GLRD were explored using citation burst analysis. Thus, the evolution of the research related to GLRD was revealed. The summary of Chinese GLRD-related research literature shows that: (1) according to the CiteSpace analysis, the GLRD research can be divided into three stages: starting, rising, and expanding and deepening; (2) GLRD research has focused on low-carbon development, green development, and then green and low-carbon integrated development, thus forming three major research content systems; (3) GLRD’s research content gradually became rich, as over time, the research focus became increasingly prominent and research integration was gradually strengthened; (4) the GLRD literature still has some limitations, e.g., nonunified measurement standards, insufficient research depth and practical significance, and relatively weak innovative policy research; (5) future research should strengthen the scientific evaluation and prediction of rural green and low-carbon functions. The industrial development pathways and regional characteristic modes of GLRD should be further studied. Innovative GLRD policies should be proposed to provide a theoretical basis and decision-making reference for GLRD and construction.

Spatial–Temporal Characteristics of Carbon Emissions in Mixed-Use Villages: A Sustainable Development Study of the Yangtze River Delta, China

“…With the aging of the rural population, there has been a marked increase in carbon emissions resulting from residential energy consumption [32]. Scholars have observed that between 2012 and 2018, per capita carbon emissions in rural areas increased, even though overall emissions declined [33]. Presently, research strategies for reducing rural carbon emissions primarily focus on enhancing the carbon sequestration capabilities of rural ecosystems (such as forests, wetlands, and farmlands) and curbing carbon emissions from rural residential living.…”

Research Progress and Trend Analysis of Soil Inorganic Carbon Sink Based on Citespace

“…However, combing through the relevant literature reveals that scholars have mostly focused on the principles of inorganic carbon and carbon storage, and there is a lack of a separate discussion on the research trends of soil inorganic carbon sink. On the other hand, in recent years, research hotspots and trends in a certain research area are often realized by CiteSpace software, which is more intuitive and more scientific in showing the current situation and future trends of research in the field, it has been widely used in different research fields in China and abroad, and is one of the more mature research tools available [9,10] .…”

Sustainable Cities and Regions—Statistical Approaches

“…This Issue also includes a spatial analysis example for an economic model which study's the spatiotemporal interaction between Kinjiangls county transformation over 10 years [27]. The second issue discussed is environmental elements modelling, covering a nonlinear model enabling the reconstruction of missing meteorological data [28], green and low-carbon rural development metanalyses with the use of graph analysis [29], and PM 2.5 and PM 10 prediction modelling with the use of a nonlinear autoregressive exogenous model [30]. The third topic is an issue of purifying the environment polluted by humans with the use of living organisms [31] and the analysis of the effectiveness of testing the level of its cleaning [32].…”