Sense of community and community development: An integrative review

Several perspectives have been considered while examining the association between a sense of community (SOC) and community development, as a SOC has been one of the critical societal factors positively associated with several outcomes. Thus, the association earns an evaluation of its current state and prospects. The present study adopts an integrative review approach, bibliometric and content analysis, to understand SOC and community development literature trends, themes, and theoretical, contextual, and methodological implications. The types of analyses conducted in bibliometrics are descriptive, performance analysis, and science mapping. While the descriptive and performance analyses reveal research constituents' current status and performance across various research constituents, several research clusters and themes were identified through science mapping. The identified clusters were Social Support, Community Development, Education, Community Well-being, and Online Education. The emerging themes were Community Engagement and Participation, Urban Development, Social Context, Measurement of SOC, Organisational SOC, and Public Spaces. Further, the content analysis of selected articles was used to uncover the theoretical, contextual, and methodological implications of SOC and community development literature. Future research recommendations regarding theoretical, contextual, and methodological implications were proposed based on the research gaps identified.