Mohd Firrdhaus Mohd SahabuddinLinda HijriyahAnuar bin AliasJun LiMastura Adam2025-10-302025-10-302025-05-3010.17576/jkukm-2025-37(3)-13https://dspace-cris.utar.edu.my/handle/123456789/11646The aim of this research is to map out existing knowledge regarding the relationship between walkability and built environment studies in order to comprehend global trends in this area within four decades between 1976 and 2022 by using two sophisticated tools called VOSviewer and CiteSpace. The issues on the dependence on motorized transportation has been receiving high attention in this 21st century. Keeping up with the high pace of publications on the holistic knowledge is significant. The bibliometric technique provides a more in-depth understanding of the knowledge and anticipates patterns for future study. This study utilizes the core collection of the Web of Science (WOS) database. The data extraction period is set from 1976 to 2022, yielding 2,004 publications. The results reveal a rapid increase of publications. The USA is the most prominent country in exploring the notion in this field, which is followed by Australia and Canada. Furthermore, the built environment, walking, and physical activity are the highly discussed topic during the four decades. The built environment is an underlying factor for walkability within the macroscale and microscale which affect environment, health, and social aspect. Those factors then influence the willingness of people to walk for their daily needs to their destinations. The findings present a development trend and a rigorous framework, which could help scholars and practitioners further investigate this subject in anticipating future development trends and lead to more advanced research in this field.enBibliometric analysisCiteSpacescience mappingthe built environmentVOSviewerwalkabilityPHYSICAL-ACTIVITYHEALTHCOMMUNITIESFEATURESTRENDSSCALEjournal-article