Urban Climate Governance and Urban Planning: A Systematic Review of Recent Literature (2020–2025)

Climate change poses increasing challenges to cities, requiring integrated governance and planning approaches to promote sustainable, resilient, and equitable urban development. In this context, this study aims to systematically review scientific literature on climate governance and urban planning, identifying dominant themes, conceptual frameworks, and research gaps. A systematic literature review was conducted following established review protocols, including database searches, screening procedures, and bibliometric and qualitative content analyses. Keyword co-occurrence and thematic clustering were applied to map the intellectual structure of the field. The results reveal a highly interdisciplinary research landscape organized around four main thematic domains: urban governance and sustainable development, climate adaptation and nature-based solutions, risk, vulnerability and participatory approaches, and land-use planning, mitigation, and environmental policy. Urban planning emerges as a central integrative platform connecting governance arrangements, ecological strategies, and climate risk management. The findings also highlight a growing emphasis on participatory governance and adaptation-oriented planning, alongside persistent gaps related to climate justice, Global South perspectives, and the integration of social inequalities into planning frameworks. Overall, the study demonstrates that effective climate governance increasingly depends on coordinated urban planning strategies capable of integrating environmental, social, and institutional dimensions, contributing to more sustainable and resilient cities.