Mapping the Research Landscape of Sustainable Insurance in Climate-Resilient Smart Cities: A Bibliometric Review

As climate risks intensify and urbanization accelerates, cities face growing challenges in safeguarding infrastructure, livelihoods, and public well-being. Sustainable insurance has emerged as a key tool for mitigating climate-related risks; however, existing models often lack integration with smart city frameworks and climate resilience strategies. This study conducts a bibliometric review to map the global research landscape of sustainable insurance in climate-resilient smart cities, providing insights into emerging trends, thematic clusters, and knowledge gaps. Using data from the Scopus database and VOSviewer-based keyword co-occurrence analysis, this study identifies four key research clusters: economic-policy integration, climate risk governance, digital urban innovation, and health within the SDG framework. The findings reveal that emerging models such as parametric insurance, microinsurance, and data-driven pricing can align financial protection with real-time climate risks, incentivizing resilience investments and expanding coverage to vulnerable communities. These clusters illustrate the field’s transition toward systems-based approaches, highlighting the need for integrated solutions that blend financial, technological, and social dimensions of resilience. Study recommendations emphasize the integration of insurance into urban planning, the expansion of public–private partnerships, regulatory modernization, and the use of smart city data for dynamic risk pricing. This research offers implications for insurers, governments, urban planners, and development agencies, and positions insurance as a cross-cutting enabler that bridges ESG principles, digital governance, and inclusive sustainability.