Pathways and Gaps in Literature through Linking Urban Transformation to Public Health

Abstract

Urban transformation reshapes cities through changes in land use, urban morphology, infrastructure, and environmental conditions. These changes influence environmental exposures, particularly air pollution and thermal stress, and ultimately affect public health. This study investigates the urban transformation–health nexus through bibliometrics and qualitative content analysis.  Based on data mining of the Scopus database, this study employed a three-track analytical approach comprising bibliometric analysis of 122 manuscripts published between 2020 and 2026, conceptual synthesis, and content analysis of 89 selected manuscripts. The results identified three pathways of transformations including uncontrolled, controlled, and human-centred transformation. The results indicated that across all pathways, air pollution and thermal stress emerged as the primary mediators of health outcomes. In addition, our investigated materials indicated limited studies were in environmental health risks are rarely integrated into land-use planning as explicit decision-making parameters. The literature was further characterised by health linkages, dominance of single-exposure studies, and limited representation of rapidly urbanising regions, particularly in the Global South specifically the Middle East and Northern Africa (MENA) region. This study presents a novel exposure-based planning framework that integrates dynamic environmental metrics into spatial decisions, thereby positioning urban transformation as an actionable determinant of population health. Serving as a comprehensive conceptual synthesis, this framework provides a novel theoretical blueprint to guide future primary analytical modelling.