Urban heat riskscape and green injustice: A scoping review of health and environmental impacts

Urban heat intensify health risks and ecological stress, with the greatest burdens falling on populations that lack access to urban green spaces (UGS). While heat exposure is well documented to increase morbidity, mortality, and ecosystem degradation, most studies examine these effects without addressing how unequal UGS provision compounds vulnerability. This scoping review synthesizes peer-reviewed research published between 2015 and 2025 that links urban heat impacts with injustice in green space access. Following Joanna Briggs Institute and PRISMA-ScR guidelines, we identified and analyzed 73 empirical studies across Web of Science, Scopus, and Scientific Electronic Library Online. The evidence shows that older adults, children, migrants, and low-income groups experience disproportionate rates of mortality, cardiovascular and respiratory illness, and thermal stress. Ecological impacts, including canopy loss, biodiversity decline, and weakened climate regulation, were also concentrated in disadvantaged neighborhoods, reinforcing cycles of exposure and vulnerability. These findings position urban heat not simply as climatic processes but as socially structured “riskscapes” that reproduce health inequities and green injustice. Equitable adaptation requires integrating UGS planning with public health priorities and justice frameworks. Research gaps remain, particularly in Global South contexts and in studies capturing the lived experiences of vulnerable groups, underscoring the need for more inclusive and comparative approaches.