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Integrating Environmental and Energy Justice into Climate-Adaptive Urban Planning: A Systematic Review

  • Xukun Yan,   
  • Xilian Luo,   
  • Yupeng Wang *

Received: 17 Oct 2025 | Revised: 11 Dec 2025 | Accepted: 12 Dec 2025 | Published: 15 Dec 2025

Abstract

Rapid urbanization and climate change are intensifying extreme climate events such as heat waves and air pollution episodes, and energy stress in cities. These interconnected risks disproportionately affect residents, especially vulnerable groups, and have pushed environmental justice and energy justice to the forefront of climate-adaptive urban planning. Drawing on journal articles indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection from 1996 to 2025, this study systematically reviews the evolution of environmental and energy justice concepts in climate-adaptive urban planning. The review identifies persistent inequities in exposure to heat and air pollution, access to green and cooling services, and disparities in energy efficiency and resilience during and after climate events. In response, multi-scale strategies have emerged, including spatial planning, low-carbon infrastructure, cooling service and clean-energy deployment. Yet current research and practice still emphasize physical environmental modifications and engineering resilience, with limited attention to structural issues such as social vulnerability and unequal resource distribution. This study calls for a shift from single-factor optimization to equity-driven systemic governance and highlights environmental and energy justice as a critical pathway toward resilient and low-carbon urban development, offering actionable insights for researchers and policymakers alike.

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DOI
10.53941/gefr.2025.100020
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Volume 2, Issue 4
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Yan, X.; Luo, X.; Wang, Y. Integrating Environmental and Energy Justice into Climate-Adaptive Urban Planning: A Systematic Review. Green Energy and Fuel Research 2025, 2 (4), 293–302. https://doi.org/10.53941/gefr.2025.100020.
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