Mapping Sustainable Mobility Research: A Lexicometric Study Towards a Comparative Analysis of Italian Cities

This paper presents a bibliometric and lexicometric analysis of recent international research on sustainable urban mobility. Its primary aim is to map the evolving thematic landscape, identify prominent research trends, and understand the conceptual structure of the field between 2014 and 2024. By systematically reviewing over 4,700 scientific publications (titles, abstracts, keywords) from the Scopus database, this study highlights dominant topics such as smart city solutions, transport policy and planning, and the role of specific geographical contexts like China and India as leading countries for experimenting innovative sustainable mobility solutions, like the electric one, in urban contexts. The findings reveal a rapidly expanding and diversifying field, with European nations, particularly Italy, showing significant research outputs. The identified conceptual clusters and keyword co-occurrences offer insights into current research paradigms and interdisciplinary connections. While this overview serves as a foundational step for a larger research project focusing on tailored interventions for Italian cities, its immediate contribution lies in providing a quantitative, data-driven characterization of the international scientific debate. This characterization can inform future research agendas, policy development, and the strategic verification, implementation, and financing of sustainable urban mobility solutions globally. This study is part of a research project commissioned by R.S.E. S.p.A. to the Department of Civil, Building, and Environmental Engineering (DICEA) of the University of Naples Federico II. The research focuses on analysing the current state of sustainable mobility solutions in Italy, along with a preliminary evaluation of the applicability of innovative solutions.