Addressing vulnerability to urban heat stress through community engagement: a systematic scoping review

This systematic scoping review defines a theoretical framework (considering vulnerability factors, adaptation options, engagement levels and community stances) to examine challenges in addressing heat stress through community engagement. Urban heat disproportionately affects communities with pre-existing vulnerabilities, while their engagement in decision-making remains scarce. While emphasizing the Global South, the review also includes exemplary Global North studies with transferable insights. 

Findings show that only one-third of studies moved beyond the ‘Consulting’ level or a ‘Reactive’ stance. Although the community sample size showed no consistent link to engagement effectiveness, higher engagement, particularly fostering ‘Interactive/Participative’ stances, was associated with more context-sensitive and inclusive outcomes. Substandard housing, chronic poverty, and inadequate adaptation funding emerged as compounding vulnerability factors linked to systemic neglect and weak institutional responses. The limited access to decision-making structures further constrained meaningful engagement. While behavioral (often self-initiated) adaptations were the most common, institutional adaptation options (governmental programmes, regulatory frameworks, economic mechanisms) emerged as indispensable in addressing structural barriers and enabling long-term resilience. Framed through a climate justice lens, this review proposes a Community-Based Adaptation Planning Process that embeds engagement across all planning stages. By aligning recognitional, procedural, distributive, and corrective justice, the staged process offers a practical pathway toward more equitable urban heat adaptation and contributes timely evidence to IPCC AR7 priorities.