Vol. 1 No. 1 (2025)
Volume 1, Number 1

Review Articles

Urban Planning and Sustainable Development: A Systematic Literature Review and Future Directions

Published 11.02.2025

  • Colin Howard

Colin Howard
Manchester School of Architecture, Manchester, UK

Abstract

The rapid pace of global urbanization demands urgent scholarly attention to balance urban growth with ecological preservation, social equity, and economic resilience. This systematic review synthesizes contemporary research on sustainable urban development through five critical lenses: (1) small-city urbanization and subjective well-being metrics, (2) adaptive reuse of waterfront public spaces, (3) strategies for regenerating resource-depleted cities, (4) the role of cultural infrastructure in rural revitalization, and (5) the integration of ecological security patterns. By critically examining 32 peer-reviewed studies (2010–2024), this paper identifies three emerging paradigms in sustainability scholarship: the shift from growth-centric to well-being-oriented urban metrics, the spatial application of circular economy principles, and the rise of trans-scalar governance frameworks. The review concludes by proposing a research agenda emphasizing digital participatory planning, nature-based solutions, and metabolic urbanism approaches to address persistent gaps in translating theory into practice.

Keywords

Urbanization, Well-being, Resilience, Circular Economy, Governance, Urban Planning, Systematic Literature Review, Sustainable Development

PDF

References

  1. Assessing Sustainable Urbanization in Small Cities: A Life Satisfaction Perspective Using the Delphi Method and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). (2024). ​Journal of Sustainable Built Environment, 1​(1). https://doi.org/10.70731/gx1bp779 DOI: https://doi.org/10.70731/gx1bp779
  2. Ahern, J. (2013). Urban landscape sustainability and resilience: The promise and challenges of integrating ecology with urban planning. ​Landscape Ecology, 28​(6), 1203–1212. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-012-9799-z
  3. Angelo, H., & Wachsmuth, D. (2020). Why does everyone think cities can save the planet? ​Urban Studies, 57​(11), 2201–2221. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0042098020919081
  4. Bell, D., & Jayne, M. (2009). Small cities? Towards a research agenda. ​International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 33​(3), 683–699. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2427.2009.00886.x
  5. Bibri, S. E., Krogstie, J., & Kärrholm, M. (2022). Urban digital twins for smart sustainable cities: State of the art, challenges, and opportunities. ​Sustainable Cities and Society, 81​, 103873.
  6. Berkes, F. (2007). Community-based conservation in a globalized world. ​Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 104​(39), 15188–15193. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0702098104
  7. Brenner, N., & Schmid, C. (2015). Towards a new epistemology of the urban? ​City, 19​(2–3), 151–182. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13604813.2015.1014712
  8. Bulkeley, H., Castán Broto, V., & Edwards, G. (2021). ​Urban governance for climate change: Experiments in global cities​. Routledge.
  9. Campbell, S. (1996). Green cities, growing cities, just cities? Urban planning and the contradictions of sustainable development. ​Journal of the American Planning Association, 62​(3), 296–312. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/01944369608975696
  10. Chen, J., Li, W., & Sun, T. (2023). ​Small cities, big impacts: Measuring urban capabilities through a mixed-methods approach​. Springer.
  11. Childers, D. L., Cadenasso, M. L., Grove, J. M., Marshall, V., McGrath, B., & Pickett, S. T. (2015). An ecology for cities: A transformational nexus of design and ecology to advance climate change resilience and urban sustainability. ​Sustainability, 7​(4), 3774–3791. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su7043774
  12. Du, G., & Teo, C. P. (2019). Synthesis of green space planning: A review of research trends and challenges. ​Sustainability, 11​(23), 6785. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su11236785
  13. Ecological spatial restoration in Gannan Prefecture based on the coupling of ecological security pattern and ecological problems. (2025). ​Journal of Sustainable Built Environment, 2​(1). https://doi.org/10.70731/nae54285 DOI: https://doi.org/10.70731/nae54285
  14. Enhancing Urban Riverside Greenways through Post-Occupancy Evaluation: A Case Study of the Yangtze River Greenway in Wuhan. (2024). ​Journal of Sustainable Built Environment, 1​(1). https://doi.org/10.70731/r6hzzx48 DOI: https://doi.org/10.70731/r6hzzx48
  15. Evans, P. (Ed.). (2002). ​Liveable cities?: Urban struggles for livelihood and sustainability​. University of California Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/9780520935976
  16. Forman, R. T. T. (2014). ​Urban ecology: Science of cities​. Cambridge University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139030472
  17. IPCC. (2023). ​Climate Change 2023: Mitigation of Climate Change​. Cambridge University Press.
  18. How to Produce Cultural Space for Sustainable Development Towards Rural Revitalization: A Case Study of China. (2024). ​Journal of Sustainable Built Environment, 1​(1). https://doi.org/10.70731/rr9ttb54 DOI: https://doi.org/10.70731/rr9ttb54
  19. Jenks, M., & Jones, C. (Eds.). (2010). Dimensions of the sustainable city (Vol. 2). Springer.
  20. Kennedy, C., Pincetl, S., & Bunje, P. (2015). The study of urban metabolism and its applications to urban planning and design. ​Environmental Pollution, 159​(8–9), 1965–1973. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2010.10.022
  21. Li, Y., & Wu, F. (2006). Socio-spatial differentiation and residential segregation in Shanghai. ​Habitat International, 30​(2), 243–256.
  22. Liu, Y., & Yang, R. (2012). Strategic adjustment of land use policy under the economic transformation. ​Resources Science, 34​(6), 1046–1051.
  23. McHarg, I. (1992). ​Design with nature​. John Wiley & Sons.
  24. Newman, P., & Jennings, I. (2008). ​Cities as sustainable ecosystems: Principles and practices​. Island Press.
  25. OECD. (2021). ​OECD Urban Studies: The future of regional development and public investment in Wales, UK​. OECD Publishing.
  26. Raworth, K. (2017). ​Doughnut economics: Seven ways to think like a 21st-century economist​. Chelsea Green.
  27. Raven, R. (2012). Analysing emerging sustainable socio-technical regimes in energy and mobility. ​Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, 1​(1), 125–130.
  28. Reed, M. (2008). Stakeholder participation for environmental management: A literature review. ​Biological Conservation, 141​(10), 2417–2431. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2008.07.014
  29. Robinson, J. (2006). ​Ordinary cities: Between modernity and development​. Routledge.
  30. Roseland, M. (2012). ​Toward sustainable communities: Solutions for citizens and their governments​. New Society Publishers.
  31. Schaffartzik, A., Mayer, A., Eisenmenger, N., & Krausmann, F. (2014). Global patterns of metal extractivism, 1950–2010: Providing the bones for the industrial society’s skeleton. ​Ecological Economics, 105​, 90–103.
  32. Shrinkage and Expansion Mechanisms of Resource-based Cities: Analysis Based on Multidimensional Typology Definition Matrix. (2024). ​Journal of Sustainable Built Environment, 1​(1). https://doi.org/10.70731/zfbe7093 DOI: https://doi.org/10.70731/zfbe7093
  33. Sen, A. (1999). ​Development as freedom​. Oxford University Press.
  34. Steffen, W., Crutzen, P. J., & McNeill, J. R. (2007). The Anthropocene: Are humans now overwhelming the great forces of nature? ​AMBIO, 36​(8), 614–621. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1579/0044-7447(2007)36[614:TAAHNO]2.0.CO;2
  35. Stiglitz, J. E., Fitoussi, J. P., & Durand, M. (2018). ​Beyond GDP: Measuring what counts for economic and social performance​. OECD Publishing. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264307292-en
  36. Talen, E. (2002). Assessing spatial equity: An evaluation of measures of accessibility to public playgrounds. ​Environment and Planning A, 34​(5), 595–613. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1068/a300595
  37. UN-Habitat. (2022). ​World Cities Report 2022: Envisaging the Future of Cities​. UN-Habitat.
  38. UNDESA. (2021). ​World Social Report 2021: Reconsidering rural development​. United Nations.
  39. Wang, Y., Fan, X., & Zhao, L. (2022). Riverside regeneration and thermal equity: An empirical study along the Yangtze River. ​Landscape and Urban Planning, 224​, 104442.
  40. World Bank. (2020). ​World Development Report 2020: Trading for Development in the Age of Global Value Chains​. World Bank.
  41. Wu, J. (2014). Urban ecology and sustainability: The state-of-the-science and future directions. ​Landscape and Urban Planning, 125​, 209–221. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2014.01.018
  42. Zhang, X., & Li, H. (2021). Post-coal transitions in China: A case study of Liupanshui. ​Resources Policy, 74​, 102365.

Similar Articles

1-10 of 16

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.