Decoding Public Sentiment Topics in Google Map Reviews on Urban Infrastructure Development of Belt and Road Initiative

The Shanghai Key Laboratory of Urban Design and Urban Science (hereinafter referred to as "LOUD Key Laboratory") has made new progress in the research of public perception. The research result: "Decoding Public Sentiment Topics in Google Map Reviews on Urban Infrastructure under the Belt and Road Initiative” was published in the Nature Portfolio journal "Scientific Report".

1. Research Background:

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has emerged as a major catalyst for global urbanization transformation. By 2023, the BRI had extended to over 150 countries and regions, with the total value of contracted projects in participating nations reaching 1.3 trillion US dollars. As the world’s largest cross-border infrastructure cooperation platform, the BRI is playing a pivotal role in reshaping the trajectory of global urbanization.

2. Public Perception of BRI Urban Infrastructure

Although the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has broad coverage and is closely linked to urban development, existing research on public perception of its infrastructure projects remains limited. On one hand, most studies rely on traditional methods such as interviews; on the other hand, current analyses tend to focus primarily on media perspectives. In particular, there is a notable lack of research leveraging crowdsourced data to quantify public perception from a spatio-temporal perspective. Previous studies have shown that both public and media perceptions of BRI infrastructure are shaped by a complex interplay of factors—including the host country's national context, media bias, and project type. This complexity underscores the pressing need for more in-depth and data-driven investigations.

To bridge this research gap, the study analyzes a total of 144,210 Google reviews related to 352 urban infrastructure projects associated with the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), spanning the years 2012 to 2023. These projects encompass six categories of urban infrastructure: ports, industrial parks, rail systems (including railways and subways), bridges, stadiums, and others. Sentiment analysis was conducted using the Valence Aware Dictionary and Sentiment Reasoner (VADER), while topic modeling was performed using the Multi-grained Latent Dirichlet Allocation (Multi-grained LDA) model.

3. Public Sentiment and Topic Trends on BRI Urban Infrastructure

The research findings indicate that overall public sentiment toward Belt and Road projects is generally positive, with over 65% of the comments classified as positive (Figure 1). Middle- and upper-middle-income countries exhibit the highest average sentiment scores and the largest proportion of positive comments. In contrast, high-income countries show the lowest overall sentiment and the smallest proportion of positive feedback. Regarding project types, port and bridge projects receive the highest average sentiment scores, whereas railway projects (including railways and subways) receive the lowest (Figure 2).

Figure 1 The distribution of BRI sentiment

Figure 2 Sentiment Heat Map of Urban Infrastructure along the Belt and Road Initiative

Based on the results of topic modeling, the discussion topics can be categorized into four main themes: professional functions (44%), benefits (24%), service industries (19%), and development (13%) (Figure 3). High-income regions tend to focus more on service-related topics, whereas low-income regions place greater emphasis on development-related issues.

From the perspective of project types, different infrastructure categories exhibit distinct patterns in public discourse. Professional function-related topics dominate discussions of rail transit projects, accounting for 60% of comments. In contrast, port projects are most associated with service industry topics (42%), while bridge projects are more frequently linked to benefits and development-related issues, comprising 59% of the discourse. This variation in topic distribution vividly reflects the functional roles of these infrastructure types within urban systems: as a technology-intensive sector, rail transit tends to attract more professional evaluations; ports, with their commercial nature, prompt discussions centered on services; and bridges, closely tied to everyday mobility, are more strongly associated with improvements in residents’ quality of life.

A representative case is the Jakarta–Bandung High-Speed Railway, inaugurated in 2023 as Southeast Asia’s first high-speed rail line. For stations along this line, professional function-related topics account for over 40% of the comments, with corresponding sentiment scores exceeding 0.7.

Figure 3 Proportions of Topics

Figure 4 Proportion of project topics and sentiment

4. Relationship Between Public Perception and Urbanization

The results of the fixed-effects analysis reveal that higher national urbanization rates and faster urban growth are associated with more positive public attitudes toward Belt and Road projects, as well as a greater prevalence of development-related discussion topics. These findings underscore the significant role that BRI infrastructure plays in supporting urbanization processes in transitional and developing countries.

In addition, city-level urbanization also affects project performance. Specifically for railway projects, higher urbanization rates at the local level are linked to more favorable public sentiment. This highlights the importance of aligning infrastructure development with the needs and contexts of local communities to enhance project acceptance and impact.

Additionally, higher project investments tend to lead to more polarized public perceptions. Many negative comments concerning high-investment projects focus on issues of inadequate maintenance post-construction. For example, the Costa Rica National Stadium — built with Chinese aid loan and recognized as the first modern stadium in Central America — received a cumulative investment exceeding 100 million US dollars. Nevertheless, 15% of the comments were negative, primarily criticizing the poor upkeep of facilities such as restrooms, which has contributed to environmental degradation.

5. Policy Implications

Based on the research findings, this paper proposes the following policy recommendations:

Firstly, infrastructure development must fully consider the actual development level and real needs of the host country. It is recommended that investors and planners involved in Belt and Road Initiative projects establish a robust demand assessment mechanism during the design and implementation phases to ensure that projects are well aligned with the local stage of development.

Secondly, given the unique challenges faced by low-income countries, investors and host governments should carefully account for maintenance costs throughout the entire project lifecycle during the planning stage. Research indicates that, compared to large-scale projects, smaller-scale initiatives that directly enhance people’s livelihoods—such as community infrastructure—often achieve higher public satisfaction. This aligns closely with the currently advocated “small yet beautiful” project concept.

Finally, this study employs quantitative analysis to uncover the complex interactions among Belt and Road infrastructure projects, urban development, and public perception. The findings not only enrich the theoretical understanding in this field but also offer empirical evidence to guide the optimized implementation of future projects.

This research is supported by the Shanghai Nature and Health Foundation, Shanghai, China; Pudong Pearl Program Leading Scheme 2023, and Pudong Talents Office; Program for Professor of Special Appointment (Eastern Scholar) at Shanghai Institutions of Higher Learning. Yue Xiong, a PhD student at the LOUD Key Laboratory, served as the first author. Professors Jiayong Liang and Chenghe Guan provided supervision and guidance. Laboratory members Yajun Zhou, Wenjun Zhu, and Juyan Chen contributed to the collection of POI data for Belt and Road Initiative projects.

Paper Link:

Xiong, Y., Liang, J., Guan, C. (2025). Decoding public sentiment topics in Google Map reviews on urban infrastructure development of Belt and Road Initiative. Scientific Report. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-06451-6