Geography’s hotspots and frontiers: Diverse, systematic, and intelligent trends

Based on the frequency of themes covered at the 35th International Geographical Congress (IGC) and the 2024 American Association of Geographers Annual Meeting (AAG-AM), we present an integrated analysis of current research hotspots in geography. The interdisciplinary approach of geography in tacklin...

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Main Authors: Bojie Fu, Junze Zhang, Xutong Wu, Michael E. Meadows
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-04-01
Series:Geography and Sustainability
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666683925000240
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author Bojie Fu
Junze Zhang
Xutong Wu
Michael E. Meadows
author_facet Bojie Fu
Junze Zhang
Xutong Wu
Michael E. Meadows
author_sort Bojie Fu
collection DOAJ
description Based on the frequency of themes covered at the 35th International Geographical Congress (IGC) and the 2024 American Association of Geographers Annual Meeting (AAG-AM), we present an integrated analysis of current research hotspots in geography. The interdisciplinary approach of geography in tackling global challenges, including climate change, urbanization, and sustainable development is highlighted. Hotspot analysis of the 35th IGC reveals the prominence of “Tourism, Leisure, and Global Change,” and “Urban Geography” as key themes, whereas the 2024 AAG-AM placed more emphasis on “GeoAI and Deep Learning,” and “Geospatial Data Science for Sustainability.” Frontier analysis, based on emerging research beyond the two conferences, highlights major critical issues being confronted by geographers, notably Earth’s surface systems, spatial patterns of human activities, intelligent remote sensing, climate change adaptation, biodiversity conservation, hazards and disaster risk, planetary boundaries, coupled human and natural systems, and global and regional sustainability. The analysis demonstrates that geographical research is becoming more diverse and systematic, and artificial intelligence technology is increasingly being harnessed. This not only reflects specific regional interests and priorities but also shows the dynamic development of geographical research and its important role in dealing with the challenges of the 21st century.
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spelling doaj-art-e231ab042cd44e79b33992e1ab1ffb382025-08-20T01:52:06ZengElsevierGeography and Sustainability2666-68392025-04-016210028510.1016/j.geosus.2025.100285Geography’s hotspots and frontiers: Diverse, systematic, and intelligent trendsBojie Fu0Junze Zhang1Xutong Wu2Michael E. Meadows3State Key Laboratory of Regional and Urban Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China; Corresponding author.State Key Laboratory of Regional and Urban Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Hazards Risk Governance, Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, ChinaSchool of Geography and Ocean Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China; Department of Environmental & Geographical Science, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch 7701, South AfricaBased on the frequency of themes covered at the 35th International Geographical Congress (IGC) and the 2024 American Association of Geographers Annual Meeting (AAG-AM), we present an integrated analysis of current research hotspots in geography. The interdisciplinary approach of geography in tackling global challenges, including climate change, urbanization, and sustainable development is highlighted. Hotspot analysis of the 35th IGC reveals the prominence of “Tourism, Leisure, and Global Change,” and “Urban Geography” as key themes, whereas the 2024 AAG-AM placed more emphasis on “GeoAI and Deep Learning,” and “Geospatial Data Science for Sustainability.” Frontier analysis, based on emerging research beyond the two conferences, highlights major critical issues being confronted by geographers, notably Earth’s surface systems, spatial patterns of human activities, intelligent remote sensing, climate change adaptation, biodiversity conservation, hazards and disaster risk, planetary boundaries, coupled human and natural systems, and global and regional sustainability. The analysis demonstrates that geographical research is becoming more diverse and systematic, and artificial intelligence technology is increasingly being harnessed. This not only reflects specific regional interests and priorities but also shows the dynamic development of geographical research and its important role in dealing with the challenges of the 21st century.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666683925000240GeographyHotspotsFrontiersSustainable developmentGlobal challenges
spellingShingle Bojie Fu
Junze Zhang
Xutong Wu
Michael E. Meadows
Geography’s hotspots and frontiers: Diverse, systematic, and intelligent trends
Geography and Sustainability
Geography
Hotspots
Frontiers
Sustainable development
Global challenges
title Geography’s hotspots and frontiers: Diverse, systematic, and intelligent trends
title_full Geography’s hotspots and frontiers: Diverse, systematic, and intelligent trends
title_fullStr Geography’s hotspots and frontiers: Diverse, systematic, and intelligent trends
title_full_unstemmed Geography’s hotspots and frontiers: Diverse, systematic, and intelligent trends
title_short Geography’s hotspots and frontiers: Diverse, systematic, and intelligent trends
title_sort geography s hotspots and frontiers diverse systematic and intelligent trends
topic Geography
Hotspots
Frontiers
Sustainable development
Global challenges
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666683925000240
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AT junzezhang geographyshotspotsandfrontiersdiversesystematicandintelligenttrends
AT xutongwu geographyshotspotsandfrontiersdiversesystematicandintelligenttrends
AT michaelemeadows geographyshotspotsandfrontiersdiversesystematicandintelligenttrends