Bibliometric and Content Analyses of Research Trends in Mobility Inequality

Mobility inequality is prevalent in different levels of severity in most of the development occurring worldwide. The rapid expansion of research on this topic in the last few decades has compelled scholars to comprehensively review the relevant literature. However, a bibliometric understanding of this field has not yet been conducted. We performed a bibliometric analysis of 578 articles on the subject published between 2002 and 2023, retrieved from the Web of Science, to identify and review the most influential literature. Descriptive and network analysis was carried out using Bibliometrix and VOSviewer software. Insights were derived regarding the most prominent authors, sources, countries, and keywords. Future research directions on mobility inequality are also proposed. We found that accessibility is a significant research cluster in mobility inequality research and has enough potential for further development. Further, a content analysis of 48 relevant articles under the accessibility cluster was conducted. Our study is limited to a bibliometric overview and a review of key literature and does not provide an in-depth review of the whole literature. However, it can aid scholars in understanding the trends and patterns of research development on mobility inequality and in identifying research gaps and future research themes.