Urban Retrofit: A Systematic Evidence Review

This systematic evidence review sets the stage for Urban Retrofit’s collaborative programme of data collection, analysis and lesson sharing with planning, property and community partners. Based on a systematic literature mapping exercise, which examined over 300 academic papers and 200 policy documents, the report examines existing global evidence on place-based urban retrofit. Acknowledging the complexities around contextual specificity and policy transferability, while recognising the social and political tensions associated with certain climate change-related topics, it establishes a working definition of urban retrofit based around four dimensions: modification, integration, implementation and evaluation. The systematic evidence review is structured around five foundational questions: What does urban retrofit mean and why does it matter? Why is urban retrofitting challenging to deliver? Who is responsible for enabling urban retrofit and what challenges do they face? How do we know if urban retrofitting really works? And what kind of urban retrofitting do existing places need?