Scientometric Analysis of Climate Change and Construction Cost Research: Trends, Gaps, and Future Directions

The intersection of climate change and construction cost management is one of the most important emerging research areas in the built environment, yet the first mapping of this field's intellectual structure, geography and evolution has not yet been conducted. This is a scientometric study which used a dataset of 177 papers on Scopus between 1997 and 2026. A targeted keyword search - TITLE-ABS-KEY ("Climate Change" AND "Construction Cost") was conducted on Scopus of initial search of 252 documents and limited to engineering, environmental and earth sciences as subject areas (195 documents), with English language peer-reviewed articles, conference papers and book chapters (177 documents). The 177 documents were subject to descriptive bibliometric analysis, trend analysis, keyword burst analysis (Kleinberg algorithm with silhouette scoring), cluster analysis, and geographic mapping using VOSviewer and Bibliometrix R. Output increased by over 400% between before 2010 and 2023-2026 (76 papers in the past four years). 50.2% of publications are from the United States, China and the United Kingdom; less than 3% from Sub-Saharan Africa, despite its extreme vulnerability to climate change and rapid development in the construction sector. Five key research clusters were discovered: cost analysis and adaptation finance; life cycle assessment and embodied carbon; energy transition and carbon costs; climate adaptation infrastructure; and digital optimisation and decision support tools. A keyword burst analysis reveals climate change adaptation (burst strength = 3.250, silhouette = 1.000, 2025-2026), uncertainty quantification (2.203, silhouette = 1.000, 2023-2025) and cost analysis (2.157, silhouette = 0.981, 2024-2025) as the most current and sharply focused research fronts. The study focuses on Scopus-indexed literature, potentially overlooking national journals, grey literature and practitioner reports. The analysis may overlook interdisciplinary work from economics and social sciences as the field is restricted to three Scopus subject areas. The study offers a structured evidence platform for researchers, policymakers and multilateral funding agencies to assess and prioritise funding for climate-resilient construction cost research, especially in developing countries where empirical evidence is lacking and the challenges greatest. This is a scientometric study of the global knowledge structure of climate change and construction cost research as a field of study. Seven key research gaps (geographic, methodological, sectoral, temporal, digital, socioeconomic, and governance) are identified and a structured research agenda for the future.