Abstract:

On the basis of interpreting the conceptual connotation of area studies and the evolutionary process of geographical participation in this field, this paper takes 377 area studies articles published in World Regional Studies from 1992 to 2025 as research samples, and systematically sorts out the current research status via bibliometric analysis and systematic literature review. The findings are as follows: ①Geography has long served as a key participant in China's area studies, evolving through four stages: knowledge translation and preliminary description, establishment of the comprehensive regional analysis paradigm, marginalization amid the quantitative revolution, and disciplinary revival and self-awareness. ②The annual publication volume has undergone a three-phase evolution of "low-level fluctuation – steady growth – explosive surge". Research objects have expanded from China's neighboring regions and major countries including the United States, Russia and Japan to peripheral regions. Qualitative methods dominate existing research with quantitative methods as a supplement. Publishing institutions are predominantly normal universities, forming a spatial pattern of "three-pole agglomeration with multi-point support", and research purposes are increasingly academic-oriented. ③The research topics cover eight major fields: geopolitics and conflict evolution, resources, energy and geo-economics, population migration and aging, urbanization and spatial expansion, land use and sustainable development, tourism industry and tourist source markets, industrial trade and foreign investment, as well as transportation infrastructure and spatial planning. ④There are prominent disparities in regional research focuses: studies on the Global South concentrate on existential issues such as conflicts, resources and population migration, while research on the Global North (Europe, America and Japan) focuses on regulative issues including institutional innovation, governance transformation and climate resilience. Finally, this paper presents discussions and prospects from the following aspects: expanding research methodologies and approaches, advancing studies on the Global South, the geographical restructuring of "efficiency-security", and the identity tension between interdisciplinarity and disciplinary autonomy.

Key words: area studies, geography, World Regional Studies, conceptual connotation, progress and prospect

摘要：

审视和总结地理学视域下的区域国别研究动态，对明晰地理学在区域国别研究的学科贡献与学理优势具有重要意义。本文在诠释区域国别研究概念内涵和地理学参与历程的基础上，以《世界地理研究》1992—2025年刊发的377篇区域国别研究载文为样本，采用文献计量和系统阅读方法，梳理其研究的发展历程和现状。研究发现：① 地理学始终是中国区域国别研究的重要参与者，历经知识译介与初步描述、综合区域分析范式确立、计量革命冲击与边缘化、复兴与学科自觉四个阶段；② 发文量呈“低位波动—稳步增长—爆发式攀升”三阶段演化，近年热度攀升；研究对象由周边及美、俄、日等大国向外围扩展，呈现“核心-边缘”结构与地缘邻近性；研究方法以定性为主、定量为辅；发文单位“师范化”且在空间上呈现“三极集聚、多点支撑”格局；研究目的“学术化”；③ 研究议题涵盖地缘政治与冲突演变、资源能源与地缘经济、人口移民与老龄化、城市化与空间扩张、土地利用与可持续发展、旅游业与客源市场、产业贸易与对外投资、交通设施与空间规划等8个领域。④ 区域议题差异显著：“全球南方”聚焦冲突、资源与人口迁移等“生存性”议题，全球北方（欧美日）侧重制度创新、治理转型与气候韧性等“调节性”议题。文末从“单元思维”向“关系思维”转换、计算社会科学方法加速融入、“全球南方”热度上升等共识，以及“效率-安全”地理重构、“全球南方”主体性错位、学科交叉与自主的身份张力等方面对区域国别地理研究的未来发展态势作出讨论与展望。

关键词: 区域国别研究, 地理学, 《世界地理研究》, 概念内涵, 进展与展望