The Intellectual Structure of Research on Rural-to-Urban Migrants: A Bibliometric Analysis

As noted in the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals 2030 agenda, sustainable cities “without leaving anyone behind” should take into consideration migrant groups, which may play only a marginal role but may be at the root of potential social conflicts. This study thereby promotes cross-disciplinary explorations of knowing and understanding the rural-to-urban internal migrants against the background of rapid urbanization. This study conducted a bibliometric analysis based on 2788 English language articles obtained from the Web of Science Core Collection database. As China’s unique Hukou system highlights the divide between rural migrants and urban dwellers, migrant studies have extended to a diverse range of interests. We underlined the most productive sources and authors in this area and identified networks of collaboration among countries and institutions. Furthermore, we found trends in research themes and topics and research clusters through keyword-based analysis techniques. The results provide a rich source of information on the intellectual structure of the chosen domain of rural-to-urban migrants.