Knowledge mapping of research progress in vertical greenery systems (VGS) from 2000 to 2021 using CiteSpace based scientometric analysis

Due to the rapid research advancements in vertical greenery systems (VGS) recently, the findings of VGS research are prolific. This study intends to visualize the intellectual background, main research frontiers and state-of-the-art knowledge structure of entire VGS domain by conducting a scientometric analysis using CiteSpace. The original research articles published between Jan 2000 to Sep 2021 were extracted from the Web of Science core collection (WOSCC) database and visualization networks of co-authorship, co-citation, co-occurrence, and cluster analysis of VGS related knowledge were developed to categorize the major contributing bodies involved in the flourishment of VGS-related research, such as, most prolific publications, highly productive authors, top contributing institutions, active countries, highly influential journals, documents, and keywords. Furthermore, current research hotspots and recently emerging sub-fields were discovered by using citation burst analysis, whereas cluster analysis was performed to categorize the entire VGS literature into knowledge clusters to achieve state-of-the-art knowledge structure of VGS domain consisting of various research themes. This study can be significantly helpful for scientists and engineers to distinguish among the most critical sub-domains of VGS literature and to identify the new research frontiers for focusing on the most significant aspects for future studies.