Current urban sustainability efforts have primarily emphasized economic and environmental dimensions, with the social dimension increasingly treated in quantitative, rhetorical, or economic terms. In response, this study advocates shifting to a people-centric approach that integrates humanistic and social values into urban sustainability initiatives within a holistic framework, rather than reducing social factors to mere metrics. To this end, a systematic literature review was conducted following the PRISMA guidelines, analyzing 186 documents from the Web of Science. Findings highlight that the transition toward people-centric urban sustainability requires action across five areas of humanistic and social values and rights, with a set of proposed approaches, ranging from justice in urban design and gender equality to the integration of cultural and social values to enhance community resilience against vulnerabilities. The findings underscore the importance of building humanistic sustainability in cities through five interconnected priorities: advancing social justice and gender equity in urban design, promoting wise and responsible use of resources, creating inclusive and pluralistic urban spaces, embedding humanistic values in planning practice, and strengthening cultural significance and community resilience.
Alizadeh et al. (Mon,) studied this question.