With the advancement of green urban development, the construction of child-friendly green cities has gained traction across East Asian metropolises. On one hand, such initiatives promote the healthy growth of children and enhance the well-being of residents. On the other hand, they facilitate the advancement of public infrastructure, thereby jointly fostering both the ecological environment and the health of the populace within the scope of green urbanism. With the help of the visual analysis function of CiteSpace knowledge mapping software, this paper makes a bibliometric analysis of the English literature on green cities and children in the Web of Science core collection database. From 570 articles published from 1993 to 2023, this paper analyzes the cooperation network relationship, keyword distribution, research hotspot focus , and trend change of literature authors so as to explore its evolution characteristics and development trend. The findings indicate that: (1) There has been a pronounced upsurge in recent research publications, with significant attention directed towards the confluence of green habitats and child-friendly urban designs. (2) In recent years, scholarly publications on green cities have pivoted from the domain of medical health towards architecture, planning, and the social sciences. This transition underscores the multifaceted and interdisciplinary nature of green urban development, necessitating holistic consideration across environmental, health, social, and economic dimensions to furnish comprehensive guidance and decision-making frameworks. (3) East Asia might benefit from drawing upon Western precedents in areas such as child-friendly urban planning, safe transportation systems, utilization of natural green spaces, and child community participation. Integrating these with local cultural and societal contexts, as well as the prevailing urban developmental paradigms, allows for apt adaptation and innovation, thus advancing the vision of child-friendly green cities.