Three Decades of Innovation: A Critical Bibliometric Analysis of BIM, HBIM, Digital Twins, and IoT in the AEC Industry (1993–2024)

Over the past 15 years, Building Information Modelling (BIM), Historic BIM (HBIM), Digital Twins, and Internet of Things (IoT) have gained prominence in architecture, construction, and building technology. This study presents a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of 5568 publications indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection between 1993 and 2024, using VOSviewer and Biblioshiny. The analysis investigates publication trends, research hotspots, citation structures, and collaborative networks, revealing evolving patterns across countries, institutions, and disciplines. The peak year was 2023 (905 papers, 2226 citations), with Automation in Construction, Buildings, and Journal of Building Engineering as the leading journals. Cheng JCP emerged as the most cited author (2059 citations, 56 papers), while Hong Kong Polytechnic University ranked highest in institutional output. China, the USA, and the UK were the top publishing countries. This study uniquely integrates BIM, HBIM, Digital Twins, and IoT as interconnected technological domains, analysing their convergence in shaping intelligent, data-driven infrastructure within the AEC sector. Unlike previous bibliometric reviews that treat these domains in isolation, this paper offers a unified framework and highlights underexplored research intersections—such as the integration of IoT in heritage documentation. The results show clear thematic clusters, a strong shift toward sustainability and interoperability, and gaps in geographic and methodological diversity. This bibliometric mapping not only synthesizes the state of research but also formulates future research directions and proposes original research questions that can guide scholars and practitioners alike.