The New Integration of Information Technology and Community Governance

With the rapid development of information technology (IT), especially after the wide application of 5G and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies, community management has begun to actively explore the integration of IT. In this study, we analyzed 717 English articles on the topic of “smart community” in the Web of Science database by combining bibliometrics and traditional review methods. Using Citespace software, we explored the literature in terms of co-citation, keyword co-occurrence, literature clustering, and author-institution cooperation to identify eight key areas of smart community research, and established a comprehensive research framework accordingly. Based on this framework, this paper further provides a comprehensive analysis of key research themes and hot issues. The study shows that the current research focus on smart communities is mainly on how to effectively integrate smart technologies into community governance. With the further development of IoT and AI technologies, smart communities will focus more on civic engagement, social innovation, healthy communities and digital health, as well as smart economy and entrepreneurial ecology. These areas are expected to be potential points for future research.