A Visual Analysis of the Development and Trends of Sustainable Communities: A Survey on Technology, User Needs, and Design

The 2023 Global Sustainable Development Report identified sustainable cities and communities as a critical area for in-depth review, emphasizing the need for systematically examining theoretical knowledge and guidance on the direction of development This article reviews the relevant literature from the Web of Science core database over the past decade and introduces Professor Verganti’s theoretical perspective of “design-driven innovation” to summarize technological research, user needs/demand, and design, providing a new theoretical dimension for the research on sustainable communities. To this end, this study employs three econometric tools—VOSviewer, RStudio Bibliometric, and CiteSpace—to analyze status and trends visually. The findings reveal that the design level has garnered the most research results, with the USA as the primary contributor and China as the country with the most development potential. Moreover, the most prominent research topics within the three perspectives are microbial communities, sustainable development goals, and ecosystem services, with recent research highlights focusing on artificial intelligence, social innovation, and tourism. In conclusion, this article proposes a strategic framework for the future development of sustainable communities, encompassing consolidation of technical foundations, clarification of demand orientation, and updating design specifications and theories to provide diverse solutions.