Urban Morphology & Climate Hazards: A Systematic Review of Global Evidence, Gaps and Future Directions

Ritu Yadav, Andrea Nascetti, Thomas Esch, Paolo Gamba, Yifang Ban 

Urban morphology shapes cities’ exposure to climate hazards, yet evidence remains fragmented across across hazard types, urban forms, data sources, analytical approaches, and geographic contexts. This systematic review synthesizes evidence on links between urban morphology and six hazards: urban heat, floods, landslides, air-quality degradation, wildfires, and droughts. We reviewed peer-reviewed studies from 2015–2026, a decade of rapid growth in Earth observation, building-footprint data, and urban climate and hazard modelling. A total of 122 studies were identified and systematically analyzed to assess how 2D and 3D urban form has been used to explain hazard intensity, exposure and impacts. The results reveal a growing but uneven evidence base. Urban heat dominates and uses the widest range of indicators, including imperviousness, building density, height, sky-view factor, canyon geometry, surface albedo, and LCZs. Compact, impervious forms increase heat storage and temperatures, while vegetation and favourable configurations promote cooling. 3D morphology and LCZs help explain neighbourhood-scale thermal intensity, ventilation, shading, diurnal contrasts, and heat impacts.. Flood, wildfire, and drought studies rely mainly on 2D indicators such as imperviousness, density, land cover, and settlement extent, with little vertical structure. Air-quality studies integrate 3D morphology as canyon geometry, building height, and ventilation influence pollutant concentration and dispersion. Landslide studies combine terrain, land-cover, and building indicators to assess susceptibility and exposed assets, but rarely use LCZ typologies.Critical gaps include geographic imbalance, limited representation of Africa, Latin America, the Global South, and small and medium-sized cities, scarce globally consistent 3D morphology, limited temporal depth, weak validation, scale mismatches, and insufficient analysis of compound and cascading hazards. Priority directions include developing open, interoperable 2D/3D morphology–hazard datasets, integrating remote sensing with in situ observations and process-based models, expanding research in under-represented regions, and advancing morphology-aware, multi-hazard urban climate assessments to support resilient planning, adaptation, and risk reduction.