Abstract/Summary

This review article examines the climate adaptation and public health nexus by exploring the role of deliberative democracy within U.K. cities. A deliberative democratic approach is increasingly being applied by local governments through citizens’ assemblies and citizens’ juries to overcome problems that democracies face when dealing with the complexity of climate change actions. The article aims, in the context of U.K. cities, (a) to explore the role of deliberative democracy in integrating public health considerations into urban climate policies, (b) to identify how deliberative democracy has been applied within U.K. local authorities, and (c) to develop a conceptual framework for deliberative urban health adaptation planning (DUHAP) to guide further research. Using secondary data from academic literature and policy sources, key themes in urban climate-health governance are reviewed. The findings illustrate deliberative democracy’s potential role in urban adaptation and health planning. From the emerging themes, good-practice examples (Bristol and Manchester) are selected to provide evidence of deliberative democracy in action. From the review, the article presents a DUHAP conceptual framework for further research on deliberative democracy. The authors highlight the opportunities for integrating public health objectives into adaptation planning to realize wider co-benefits, as well as the challenges with a deliberative democracy approach. The approach requires more joined-up thinking between stakeholders and agencies toward the co-production of effective adaptation-health policies and improved resources from the central government for place-based actions. These findings are useful for both practitioners and academics to better understand how to meaningfully engage with citizens on urban adaptation and public health policy.