The effects of urbanization on carbon emissions (EUCE) are complex, while rare work has comprehensively elaborated on how various aspects affect and develop. In this study, utilizing Citespace and VOSviewer software, a global scientometric visualization analysis was conducted to excavate various impacts and future trends of urbanization on carbon emissions. Based on publications from the year 1982 to 2018, the spatial-temporal distribution of publications, collaboration, current hotspots, and future trends of EUCE were carried out. The results indicated that between 1992 and 2018, there were accelerated increasing trends of EUCE researches world widely, among which China, the USA, and UK ranked the top 3. Relevant research firstly appeared in the USA, while grew most rapidly in China. Research subjects mainly concentrate on population migration, resource consumption, land use and land cover change (LULCC), energy conservation, non-carbon greenhouse gases like CH4 and N2O. And attention on carbon footprint has become a hotspot for carbon mitigation. For research fronts, ecosystem service offered by urban green space has gradually evolved as a research focus. Besides, energy transformation technology is critical for mitigating carbon emissions and has become an important concern in the future development. Furthermore, the timeline visualization analysis indicates that all the research topics related to EUCE are cited and connected with each other, reflecting the necessity of interdisciplinary integration in scientific research. Overall, our study has provided a quantitative visualization on the current situation and future trends of EUCE subject, which will be helpful to subsequent research and policy guidance.
Keywords: Carbon emissions; Citespace; Scientometric visualization; Urbanization; VOSviewer.