As cities grapple with rising temperatures, the integration of urban greenery has gained recognition as a viable solution to mitigate these effects and enhance outdoor thermal conditions. This paper identifies widely used and emerging numerical models, highlights research gaps, and addresses key insights from the selected literature. Grounded in a PRISMA-based review, it offers insights to optimize strategies for mitigating urban heat islands and enhancing livability. The study explores synergies and trade-offs between green infrastructure and the built environment, aiming to provide insights into optimizing these elements for sustainable urban development. In this research, a mixed-methods approach was adopted by combining a systematic review and a bibliometric review using the PRISMA 2020 and VOSviewer 1.6.19 of 48 relevant studies. The PRISMA process led to the selection of the papers used for both the qualitative synthesis and bibliometric analysis. The results indicate a significant increase in research output in the last decades with a marked focus on green roofs, urban parks, and vertical greening systems. Our findings provide an elaborate conceptual framework that maps the interrelation between the research topics. Also, the study highlights existing research gaps in numerical modeling software for evaluating the cooling potential of urban greenery and its impact on thermal comfort across diverse urban contexts. The study recommends developing standardized frameworks and metrics for evaluating thermal comfort in urban areas, as well as suggesting that advancing numerical modeling software is essential to accurately simulate the complex interactions between urban greenery, microclimates, and urban forms.

As the population increases, the growing demand for residential housing escalates construction activities, significantly impacting global warming by contributing 42% of primary energy use and 39% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This study addresses a gap in research on lifecycle assessment (LCA) for Indian residential buildings by evaluating the full cradle-to-grave carbon footprint of a typical single-family house in Northern India. A BIM-based LCA framework was applied to a 110 m² single-family dwelling over a 60-year life span. Operational use performance and climate analysis was evaluated via cove tool. The total carbon footprint over a 60-year lifespan was approximately 5884 kg CO₂e, with operational energy use accounting for about 87% and embodied carbon approximately 11%. Additional impacts came from maintenance and replacements. Energy usage was calculated as 71.76 kWh/m²/year and water usage as 232.2 m³/year. Energy consumption was the biggest driver of emissions, but substantial impacts also stemmed from material production. Cement-based components and steel were the largest embodied carbon contributors. Under the business-as-usual (BAU) scenario, the operational emissions reach approximately 668,000 kg CO₂e with HVAC and 482,000 kg CO₂e without HVAC. The findings highlight the necessity of integrating embodied carbon considerations alongside operational energy efficiency in India’s building codes, emphasizing reductions in energy consumption and the adoption of low-carbon materials to mitigate the environmental impact of residential buildings. Future work should focus on the dynamic modeling of electricity decarbonization, improved regional datasets, and scenario-based LCA to better support India’s transition to net-zero emissions by 2070.

Urbanization and climate change are intricately linked, significantly influencing local and regional thermal environments. Kolkata, a rapidly expanding metropolitan city in India, has witnessed substantial shifts in urban thermal dynamics due to increasing land surface temperatures (LST), the urban heat island (UHI) effect, and heightened thermal discomfort. This study integrates high-resolution remote sensing data and a cloud-based platform via Google Earth Engine (GEE) to assess spatiotemporal changes in thermal discomfort in Kolkata. The study employs the urban thermal field variance index (UTFVI) to estimate the urban thermal discomfort, while the Sen's Slope estimator and the modified Mann-Kendall tests are applied to assess long-term spatiotemporal trends in urban thermal conditions. Findings reveal that LST, UHI, and UTFVI are significantly increasing at the rates of 0.149°C/year, 0.041°C/year, and 0.0041°C/year, respectively. The results further reveal that those areas with low vegetation cover experience extreme thermal stress, highlighting the critical role of urban greenery in mitigating heat-related discomfort. The study offers data-driven insights into Kolkata's urban thermal landscape, with guidance for policymakers in developing sustainable urban planning and climate adaptation strategies, such as expanding green spaces, implementing cool roof technologies, and enhancing urban ventilation. By leveraging cloud-based remote sensing, this study provides a scalable framework for assessing and addressing urban thermal discomfort in other rapidly urbanizing cities worldwide.

Urban Heat Island (UHI) effects pose a significant environmental challenge in contemporary urban planning, driven by accelerating climate change, rapid urban development, and changes in land use patterns. This study explores the potential of urban greenery as a mitigation strategy for UHI by conducting a systematic and bibliometric review of 42 peerreviewed studies, selected using the PRISMA 2020 protocol. A mixed methods approach was employed, integrating a systematic review with a critical content synthesis of selected studies using PRISMA 2020 and bibliometric mapping using VOSviewer (1.6.19). The results indicate that urban greenery, encompassing green roofs, vegetated facades, urban forests, and street trees, plays a critical role in mitigating surface and air temperatures by enhancing evapotranspiration, increasing surface reflectivity (albedo), providing shading, and improving urban ventilation dynamics. Widely used indicators in these studies include Land Surface Temperature, the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, and canopy coverage. The bibliometric analysis reveals exponential growth in related publications between 2014 and 2024, is an R2 = 0.8263, along with emerging thematic clusters centered on thermal comfort modeling, nature-based solutions, and urban climate resilience. China, Australia, and the United States account for the majority of contributions, while tropical and lower-income regions remain underrepresented. The findings highlight critical thematic and geographic gaps, emphasizing the need for future research incorporating empirical validation, field experimentation, and integrative modeling to advance equitable and context-sensitive UHI mitigation strategies.

Urban areas face increasing pressure from climate change, ecological degradation, and rising infrastructure costs, prompting renewed interest in Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) as alternatives to conventional grey infrastructure. This study systematically reviews 87 peer-reviewed articles (2013–2025) to compare NBS and conventional infrastructure across economic, environmental, social, and resilience dimensions. Using a mixed-methods approach that integrates PRISMA-guided systematic review with bibliometric network analysis (VOSviewer), the study synthesizes lifecycle cost patterns, sustainability outcomes, and methodological trends. The results indicate that while NBS often involve higher initial capital investment, lifecycle cost analyses frequently report long-term savings, with median lifecycle cost differentials favouring NBS when maintenance regimes and co-benefits are included. Hydrological outcomes show consistent directional improvements, including reductions in peak discharge and runoff volume, although effect magnitudes vary significantly across climatic and design contexts. Ecological benefits are more consistently quantified than socio-cultural outcomes, revealing an imbalance in sustainability assessment frameworks. Bibliometric analysis demonstrates strong geographic concentration in high-income regions and increasing attention to governance and equity-related themes in recent years. The review identifies substantial methodological heterogeneity in cost accounting boundaries, discount-rate assumptions, monitoring duration, and indicator selection, limiting the feasibility of formal meta-analysis and constraining cross-context comparability. By integrating economic and sustainability dimensions within a single analytical structure, this study clarifies where comparative evidence converges, where it remains uncertain, and which standardization priorities are necessary to strengthen future infrastructure evaluation.

Vernacular architecture in India represents a profound synthesis of environmental adaptation, cultural expression, and community craftsmanship. Despite its ecological relevance and spatial intelligence, these traditional systems are increasingly marginalized in contemporary architectural practice. Existing research often isolates individual typologies or regions without offering a comparative, interdisciplinary lens. This study addresses this gap by critically examining the architectural, environmental, and socio-cultural dimensions of vernacular architecture across three ecologically diverse regions: Kutch in Gujarat, Ziro Valley in Arunachal Pradesh, and Shekhawati in Rajasthan. It identifies common design logics, assesses material performance, and evaluates community knowledge systems within these regional practices. The research employs a qualitative, case-based methodology, including field observations, semi-structured interviews with local artisans and residents, a spatial analysis of vernacular forms, and a literature synthesis. The findings reveal that vernacular architecture in all the three regions exhibits contextresponsive spatial planning, low-carbon material use, and social embeddedness. These systems integrate passive design techniques such as thermal massing, cross-ventilation, and shaded courtyards, while also serving as vessels of cultural identity and memory. The paper identifies key challenges which include policy neglect, erosion of traditional knowledge, and aspirational shifts toward industrial materials. It thus concludes that vernacular architecture offers a resilient, sustainable, and culturally rich alternative to dominant construction models. Therefore, it calls for strategic integration of vernacular knowledge into architectural education, policy frameworks, and design innovation. Future research should focus on developing adaptive hybrid models that bridge traditional wisdom with contemporary performance requirements.