Strategic design thinking in urban sustainability governance: a PRISMA-Guided systematic review and policy design implications

Urban sustainability governance increasingly faces uncertainty that linear planning approaches handle poorly. This PRISMA-guided systematic review synthesises 48 studies on strategic design thinking (SDT) in urban sustainability governance to map thematic and methodological patterns, examine governance integration, and identify recurring design–governance shortcomings. Using Scopus and Web of Science Core Collection (2015–2025), CASP/MMAT appraisal, and thematic synthesis with a light exploratory quantitative layer, the review finds uneven regional and thematic coverage, weak links between experiments and long-term strategies, limited operationalisation of equity, patchy institutional learning, and restricted attention to low-resource and Global South contexts. After completing the evidence synthesis, the article proposes DEGA (Design-Embedded Governance Architecture) as a post-synthesis interpretive framework linking strategic design practices to iterative governance routines, and translates it into a municipal playbook and an equity-by-design assessment tool. The article concludes with implications for municipal implementation and future research.