From participation to partnership: A systematic review of public engagement in sustainable urban planning

Public engagement in sustainable urban planning has evolved from basic participation to collaborative partnership approaches. This systematic review analyzes 241 publications from the Web of Science Core Collection to address five key questions: (1) What characterizes the academic landscape of this research? (2) How has this field developed temporally? (3) What patterns emerge in the transition from participation to partnership? (4) What distinguishes partnership approaches in sustainability planning? (5) What thematic areas have been explored, and what knowledge gaps remain? Our bibliometric and thematic analysis reveals three major findings. First, scholarly attention has surged over the past decade, shifting from conceptual frameworks (pre-2010) to technological innovation (2010−2020) and now to collaborative approaches emphasizing co-creation. Second, geographic analysis shows concentrated research in Europe and Asia, with significant gaps in developing regions. Third, we identify four critical thematic evolutions: the public's role transforming from passive recipients to active co-creators; motivations and barriers affecting engagement quality; emerging mechanisms enabling collaboration; and redefined stakeholder dynamics in partnership models. The review highlights persistent challenges including tokenistic participation, digital divides in technology-mediated engagement, and power asymmetries in stakeholder relations. We propose four research directions to advance authentic partnerships: analyzing citizen-initiated planning, addressing human-centered technology challenges, evaluating collaborative tools, and examining power redistribution among stakeholders and developing frameworks for authentic partnerships between citizens and authorities. This work provides the first holistic synthesis of the participation-to-partnership transition in sustainable urban planning, offering both scholarly and practical insights for more inclusive urban governance.