Global Housing Research: A Comprehensive Bibliometric Analysis of Inequality, Sustainability, and Policy Gaps

Background Health, inequality, sustainability, and economic stability are all substantially influenced by housing research; however, comprehensive, data-driven analyses are rare. The discipline is lacking in a comprehensive global bibliometric assessment, even though previous assessments have focused on narrative accounts or specific topics.Methods We performed a bibliometric study of 19,645 peer-reviewed publications on housing published from 1993 to 2022, sourced from Scopus. In accordance with PRISMA criteria, records were evaluated for relevance, and scient metric techniques co-word, co-citation, and co-authorship analyses were used using VOS viewer. Descriptive and network-based measures defined chronological, geographical, and thematic trends.Results The research identified five primary research themes: (1) affordability and inequality, (2) gentrification and displacement, (3) housing-health linkages, (4) sustainability and energy efficiency, and (5) financialization and global crises. The 2008 financial crisis and the COVID-19 epidemic significantly increased the prominence of sustainability and health, even though affordability and inequality were the most enduring focus issues. The United States, United Kingdom, and China were the primary contributors to global outputs, with Harvard University, Peking University, and University College London being notable institutions. The discipline remains methodologically constrained by its reliance on cross-sectional data and continues to exhibit regional bias in favor of the Global North, despite interdisciplinary growth.Conclusions This study provides the most comprehensive bibliometric mapping of housing research to date, with a focus on essential conceptual frameworks, collaborative networks, and research deficiencies. The results underscore the necessity of comparative research in Global South contexts, the integration of health and sustainability perspectives, and methodological diversity, particularly longitudinal approaches. Housing research may more effectively guide equitable and sustainable policy solutions to global crises by addressing these deficiencies.