Exploring ESG Dimensions in the Urban Context

Abstract

This article provides a critical and thematically structured literature review of Envi-ronmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) urbanism as it intersects with the right to the city, green gentrification, affordable housing, public-private partnerships, and partici-patory governance. Drawing from 52 scholarly and research-led sources centered on 2020–2025, while re-taining selected foundational earlier works, the study examines how ESG frameworks are adopted, contested, and operationalized across diverse urban contexts. While ESG has emerged as a dominant paradigm in urban planning and real estate, the review reveals its frequent co-optation by market-driven agendas, which risk reproducing socio-spatial inequalities under the guise of sustainability. At the same time, the literature highlights promising alternatives rooted in environmental justice, multispecies ethics, legal reform, and community-led planning. The review advances the argument that ESG must be reframed not as a universal compliance model, but as a situated, justice-oriented framework capable of responding to the complex ecological and social realities of contemporary urbanization. By foregrounding relational governance, inclusive design, and equitable urban futures, the article contributes to an emerging research agenda that challenges technocratic sus-tainability and reclaims ESG as a transformative tool for spatial and environmental justice.