Environmental Design in the Age of AI: Bibliometric and Thematic Insights From a Social Sciences Perspective

Today, artificial intelligence (AI) technologies are transforming numerous disciplines and creating new opportunities in the field of environmental design. The potential of AI tools in environmental design extends beyond technical processes, influencing human-environment interaction. However, existing studies on this topic have predominantly maintained a technical focus, with limited in-depth exploration of social dimensions such as human, society, and culture. This paper presents a bibliometric and thematic analysis of AI technologies in environmental design from a social sciences perspective. From an initial set of 170 works identified in Scopus as related to “artificial intelligence” and “environmental design,” 39 articles classified under the “Social Sciences” category were selected for analysis. The bibliometric analysis quantitatively examines the temporal evolution, geographical distribution, collaborative network structures, and citation profiles of these publications. Subsequently, thematic analysis investigates the prominent research topics, data sources, and methodological approaches applied in these studies. Findings reveal a broad spectrum of AI applications from quantifying perception and experience to analyses of human well-being and safety, and from socio-ethical considerations to the integration of generative AI in design processes. By arguing that AI in environmental design should be regarded not merely as a technical tool but as a phenomenon influencing social structures and human experiences, this study aims to deepen understanding of the field’s social dimensions and provides a foundation for future research.