Heritage building maintenance management (HBMM): A bibliometric-qualitative analysis of literature

Heritage buildings (HBs), which are unique landmarks across the world, have special cultural significance. However, many of the HBs, in lack of proper maintenance management, have become deplorable. Whereas a myriad of studies have been conducted on the general aspects in the heritage building maintenance management (HBMM) domain, it is lacking a detailed and systematic study on the state-of-the-art of HBMM research and its significant trend. To provide a better understanding of this underexplored area, a study was initiated. Using keywords in the HBMM domain, 944 articles published between 2000 and 2020 were identified through a bibliometric search from the Scopus databases. The “VOSViewer” software was utilized to carry out a scientometric analysis of the articles, which revealed the rising trend of research in HBMM, distribution of articles across the reviewed journals, number of citations of the journals, and strength of connections between the journals based on mutual citations. Then, a qualitative review of the key articles identified that the focuses of investigation of the previous research in HBMM fall into five areas: i) decision-making frameworks, ii) integration of digital technologies and HBMM, iii) building condition and maintenance practice, iv) sustainability and HBMM, and v) new technologies for HBMM. Based on these areas, a framework of directions for future research in HBMM was established. The methodology of this study and the study results, especially the future research directions, can serve as a useful reference for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers in making future effort for the betterment of HBMM.