Reading the Older People Researches in Architecture through Bibliometric Analysis (1975-2022)

Abstract

The increase in the elderly population all over the world has made it necessary for many disciplines, from health to psychology, from economics to humanities, to conduct field-oriented studies. Architecture is one of the disciplines that play an important role in old age in terms of its relationship with the built environment. This study aims to reveal the intellectual structure, research topics, and trends of scientific studies on elderly users in the discipline of architecture. In this study, in which bibliometric analysis of articles for older adults was made in the Web of Science database between 1975 and 2022, the structure of the field and relations were analyzed by creating science maps through performance analysis and VOSviewer software. In the analyzes made, it has been seen that the number of articles on the elderly has increased in recent years. Although it has a wide distribution in terms of subject variety; housing, aging in place, age-friendly environment, and accessibility are the current topics in the field. This study contributes to the literature by presenting the current course of elderly user-oriented studies in architecture from a bibliographic perspective. On the other hand, it is thought to be a guide for new research by revealing the deficiencies in the field.