Mapping Knowledge Domain on Economic Growth and Water Sustainability: A Scientometric Analysis

With the extensive growth of economy, the water system of the globe is under unprecedented pressure. So, the relationship between economic growth and water sustainability has been a common concern for the academia. The purpose of this paper is to use the bibliometric method to sort out the research progresses on economic growth and water sustainability during the past 30 years. More importantly, it tries to recognize the research hotspots and future trends in this field, to provide valuable directions for later research. A systemic review and bibliometric analysis are conducted by retrieving 1287 papers on water sustainability and economic growth. The results indicate that the number of articles related to the field of economic growth and water sustainability has increased steadily. The 1287 articles are published in 581 different journals, where the top 20 publishing journals have published 31.31% of them, and Sustainability and Journal of Cleaner Production have published the most retrieved articles. By introducing the Mapping Knowledge Domain with the combination of the software of COOC and VOSviewer, five clusters of research hotspots are summarized: economic growth and water consumption; water-energy-food-economy nexus and circular economy; climate change, water scarcity and water quality; water resources management and water footprint; wastewater management and valorization.