Digital transformation and urban governance: A bibliometric analysis of public administration research

Type of the article: Research ArticleAbstractWithin the framework of digital transformation, the growing interaction between citizens and local self-government institutions during urban development has become a pressing topic in the international scientific community. The purpose of this study is to perform a bibliometric analysis of the scientific literature on the public administration of urban development during digital transformation. The study covers the period from 2005 to April 2025 and is based on 1,388 articles chosen from the Scopus database. The results obtained using VOSviewer show that since 2015, the rate of scientific publication has accelerated, indicating a substantial increase in interest in this area among researchers. Regarding the distribution of countries, the results emphasize the prominent position of developed countries. Although the USA (187) occupies the leading position in terms of the number of publications, China (161) and Italy (119) have shown wider collaboration networks in international research. Moreover, scientific collaboration among European Union countries is at a high level. Analysis of the keyword network shows that the topic of “smart city” has the highest level of connectivity and is one of the most relevant research directions in the field of urban governance during digital transformation. The results show that improving data-driven governance and the relationship between citizens and local government can contribute to the development of effective urban strategies and enhance public trust in local government. The results provide a general overview of research on digital transformation in urban governance and its main research directions.