The Evolution of the Interaction Between Urban Rail Transit and Land Use: A CiteSpace-Based Knowledge Mapping Approach

Urban rail transit is a key enabler for optimizing urban spatial structures, and its interactive relationship with land use has long been a focus of attention. However, existing studies suffer from scattered methodologies, a lack of systematic analysis, and insufficient dynamic insights into global trends. This study comprehensively employs CiteSpace, VOSviewer, and Scimago Graphica to conduct bibliometric and knowledge map analysis on 1894 articles from the Web of Science database between 2004 and 2024, focusing on global research trends, collaboration networks, thematic evolution, and methodological advancements. Key findings include the following: (1) research on rail transit and land use has been steadily increasing, with a significant “US-China dual-core” distribution, where most studies are concentrated in the United States and China, with higher research density in Asia; (2) domestic and international research has primarily focused on themes such as the built environment, value capture, and public transportation, with a recent shift toward artificial intelligence and smart city technology applications; (3) research methods have evolved from foundational 3S technologies (GIS, GPS, RS) to spatial modeling tools (e.g., LUTI model, node-place model), and the current emergence of AI-driven analysis (e.g., machine learning, deep learning, digital twins). The study identifies three future research directions—technology integration, data governance, and institutional innovation—which provide guidance for the coordinated planning of transportation and land use in future smart city development.