The global population has rapidly urbanized over the past century, and the urbanization rate is projected to reach about 70% by 2050. In line with these trends and the increasing recognition of the significance of cities in addressing local and global challenges, a lot of research has been published on urban studies and planning since the middle of the twentieth century. While the number of publications has been rapidly increasing over the past decades, there is still a lack of studies analyzing the field's knowledge structure and its evolution. To fill this gap, this study analyzes data related to more than 100,000 articles indexed under the “Urban Studies” and “Regional & Urban Planning” subject categories of the Web of Science. We conduct various analyses such as term co-occurrence, co-citation, bibliographic coupling, and citation analysis to identify the key defining thematic areas of the field and examine how they have evolved. We also identify key authors, journals, references, and organizations that have contributed more to the field's development. The analysis is conducted over five periods: 1956–1975 (the genesis period), 1976–1995 (economic growth and environmentalism), 1996–2015 (sustainable development and technological innovation), 2016–2019 (climate change and SDGs), and 2020 onwards (post-COVID urbanism). Four major thematic areas are identified: 1) socio-economic issues and inequalities, 2) economic growth and innovation, 3) urban ecology and land use planning, and 4) urban policy and governance and sustainability. The first two are recurring themes over different periods, while the latter two have gained currency over the past 2–3 decades following global events and policy frameworks related to global challenges like sustainability and climate change. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, issues related to smart cities, big data analytics, urban resilience, and governance have received particular attention. We found disproportionate contributions to the field from the Global North. Some countries from the Global South with rapid urbanization rates are underrepresented, which may have implications for the future of urbanization. We conclude the study by highlighting thematic gaps and other critical issues that need to be addressed by urban scholars to accelerate the transition toward sustainable and resilient cities.

全球人口在过去一个世纪快速城市化，预计到 2050 年城市化率将达到 70% 左右。根据这些趋势以及人们对城市在应对当地和全球挑战中的重要性的日益认识，大量研究自二十世纪中叶以来，已出版有关城市研究和规划的文章。虽然在过去几十年中出版物的数量迅速增加，但仍然缺乏分析该领域知识结构及其演变的研究。为了填补这一空白，本研究分析了与科学网“城市研究”和“区域与城市规划”主题类别下索引的 100,000 多篇文章相关的数据。我们进行各种分析，例如术语共现、共引、书目耦合、和引文分析，以确定该领域的关键定义主题领域，并检查它们是如何演变的。我们还确定了对该领域的发展做出更大贡献的主要作者、期刊、参考文献和组织。分析分五个时期进行：1956-1975（创世纪）、1976-1995（经济增长和环保主义）、1996-2015（可持续发展和技术创新）、2016-2019（气候变化和可持续发展目标）和 2020之后（后 COVID 城市主义）。确定了四个主要主题领域：1) 社会经济问题和 1956-1975（创世纪）、1976-1995（经济增长和环保主义）、1996-2015（可持续发展和技术创新）、2016-2019（气候变化和可持续发展目标）和 2020 年以后（后 COVID 城市化）。确定了四个主要主题领域：1) 社会经济问题和 1956-1975（创世纪）、1976-1995（经济增长和环保主义）、1996-2015（可持续发展和技术创新）、2016-2019（气候变化和可持续发展目标）和 2020 年以后（后 COVID 城市化）。确定了四个主要主题领域：1) 社会经济问题和不平等，2) 经济增长和创新，3) 城市生态和土地利用规划，以及 4) 城市政策和治理以及可持续性。前两个主题在不同时期反复出现，而后两个主题在过去 2-3 年中随着与可持续性和气候变化等全球挑战相关的全球事件和政策框架而流行起来。在 COVID-19 大流行之后，与智慧城市、大数据分析相关的问题，城市复原力和治理受到了特别关注。我们发现全球北方对该领域的贡献不成比例。一些城市化速度很快的南半球国家的代表人数不足，这可能对城市化的未来产生影响。我们通过强调主题差距和城市学者需要解决的其他关键问题来结束这项研究，以加速向可持续和有弹性的城市过渡。