Towards Climate-Resilient and Low-Carbon Transport Infrastructure: A Circular Economy Perspective through Bibliometric Analysis

The transport sector is a major contributor to carbon emissions and is increasingly exposed to climate-related disruptions, creating an urgent need for infrastructure that is both low-carbon and resilient. This study provides a bibliometric synthesis of Scopus-indexed journal literature (1967–2025; n = 6,367) to map how circular economy (CE) research intersects with decarbonization and climate resilience in transport infrastructure. Using VOSviewer science-mapping, we analyze publication and citation evolution, leading outlets and countries, and thematic structures based on keyword co-occurrence and term clustering. Results show accelerated growth after 2015, reflecting alignment with global sustainability agendas and the rapid expansion of CE-related transport research. The thematic landscape is organized around four interlinked domains: (i) technological innovation and system optimization, (ii) energy, emissions, and environmental assessment, (iii) infrastructure durability and material performance, and (iv) socio-behavioral and policy dimensions. Cross-country patterns indicate that some nations achieve high impact with lower volume due to concentrated contributions in highly cited, policy-relevant research and strong international collaboration networks. Overall, the study consolidates research streams that are often examined separately and identifies actionable directions for policy design, infrastructure planning, and future research on circular, low-carbon, and climate-resilient transport systems.