From Institutional Duality to Continuity: A Scientometric Analysis of Conceptual Evolutions and Identification of Research Gaps in the Role of Formal and Informal Institutions on Urban Land Use Change (1977–2025)

Articles in Press

Document Type : Scientific-Research

Authors

Mohammad nazarifar ¹

Keramatollah Ziari ²

Ali Hosseini ³

¹ Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Human Geography and Planning, Kish International Campus, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

² Department of Human Geography and Planning,Faculty of Geography, University of Tehran,Tehran, Iran

³ Associate Professor, Department of Human Geography and Planning, Faculty of Geography, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

https://doi.org/10.22067/jgusd.2026.98111.1586

Abstract

Abstract

Global urbanization has occurred mainly in informal settlements in the Global South and is accompanied by tenure insecurity, lack of basic services, and environmental vulnerability. This phenomenon has exacerbated the crisis of the duality between formal and informal institutions, while the research literature, focusing on a simplified duality, has failed to grasp the complexity of institutional interactions. This study aims to reproduce an integrated conceptual map of institutional developments and identify research gaps, answering the key question: How has the conceptual structure of institutions evolved from duality to dynamic continuity? The research method is descriptive-analytical with a bibliometric approach and knowledge network analysis, which analyzed 342 reliable Scopus sources (1977–2025) with VOS viewer software and extracted 256 keywords and 4,678 semantic links. The findings reveal seven conceptual clusters and three historical transitions: the first transition (1977–2016) from monocentric planning to participatory governance; the second transition (2016–2020) with the integration of climate challenges and the emergence of adaptive governance; and the third transition (2020–2025) with a focus on land justice and postcolonial critique in which informality is no longer redefined as a defect but as a space for struggle over access to vital resources. This research identifies three gaps: an institutional gap (formal/informal separation), a geographical gap (focus on Africa and Asia and lack of comparative analyses for the Middle East and Central Asia), and a methodological gap (predominance of qualitative studies). The conclusion shows that contemporary understanding of institutions has evolved towards dynamic processes of struggle over access to land, and the "institution-power-space" framework can provide a basis for more equitable policymaking in developing cities.

Keywords

Keywords: formal and informal institutions

urban land use change

knowledge network analysis

institutional continuity

land justice

Subjects

• urban planinnin

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