ABSTRACT Urban heat disproportionately affects communities with pre‐existing vulnerabilities, while their engagement in decision‐making remains scarce. 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. 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. This article is categorized under: Climate, Nature, and Ethics > Climate Change and Global Justice Integrated Assessment of Climate Change > Assessing Climate Change in the Context of Other Issues Climate and Development > Urbanization, Development, and Climate Change
Lao et al. (2026) studied this question.