Official Article Link: https://doi.org/10.1002/sd.71007
European cities are on the front lines of climate change — yet the research that should guide their response remains deeply fragmented. A new open-access publication in Sustainable Development (Wiley) maps the structural gaps in over 1,500 studies and proposes a path toward more integrated urban climate action.
The paper, "Fragmentation Across Scales, Geography, and Climate Challenges in European Urban Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation Research: A Bibliometric and Systematic Review," is co-authored with Isabela Pichardo-Velázquez and Antonino Marvuglia from the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST). This collaboration is part of the CHIASMUS (Climate-based Hybrid and Locally Informed Adaptive Strategies from Modelling of Urban Building Stock) project, a WEAVE-funded initiative that brings together researchers across institutions to tackle urban climate challenges at multiple scales.
This publication is one of the products of various collaborations with researchers from different universities and research institutions across Europe. These cross-institutional partnerships are essential for bridging disciplinary boundaries and addressing the complexity of urban climate change — a challenge that no single group can tackle alone.
Three Dimensions of Fragmentation
Using a hybrid methodology combining Cortext Manager bibliometrics and PRISMA 2020 systematic review guidelines across 1,528 studies (2010–2025), the paper identifies three critical silos:
- Scale fragmentation: Building-level and city-level research remain largely disconnected, limiting our ability to evaluate cross-scale interactions and co-benefits of interventions.
- Geographic concentration: Research is heavily concentrated in Italy, the United Kingdom, Spain, and Germany — neglecting the diversity of European urban typologies and climate contexts.
- Isolated climate challenges: Urban Heat Island (UHI) dominates the literature, while interconnected challenges like flooding, energy demand, and air quality are studied in isolation.
Why This Matters
This systemic fragmentation limits cities' capacity to evaluate co-benefits, trade-offs, and strategies aligned with SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities) targets. As European cities face compounding climate risks — from intensified heat extremes to increased flooding — integrated, evidence-based approaches are more critical than ever.
Projections indicate that heatwave days could rise from 4% in northern European cities to as much as 69% in Mediterranean regions by the end of the century. Meanwhile, river flooding exposure is projected to more than double by 2050, with annual economic losses reaching €21.3 billion.
A Research Agenda for Integration
Based on an empirically derived taxonomy of European urban climate action, the study proposes a forward-looking research agenda calling for:
- Transdisciplinary frameworks that bridge building- and city-scale research
- Integrated modeling approaches that capture interactions between climate challenges
- Broader geographic coverage to reflect the full diversity of European urban environments
- Stronger alignment with policy instruments such as the Renovation Wave Initiative and Nature-based Solutions (NbS)
Accessing the Publication
The full paper is published open access under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC 4.0) license and is freely available from Sustainable Development (Wiley).
Official Article Link: https://doi.org/10.1002/sd.71007