Urban nature-based solutions (NbS) design practices rely increasingly on micro-climate modelling to predict thermal, hydrologic and comfort outcomes, yet practitioners often face a lack of clear guidance on selecting among leading tools. This scoping review maps peer-reviewed studies (2015–2025) of six prominent simulators: ENVI-met, SOLWEIG, RayMan, CitySim, COMFA and VTUF-3D, focusing on their documented inputs, outputs, validation status, run-times and user requirements. A systematic search in Scopus and Web of Science identified and screened relevant articles, yielding a concise corpus for comparative analysis. Results distil each tool’s strengths and limitations, revealing trade-offs between fidelity, computational effort and usability. A decision-support framework is proposed to guide urban designers and campus planners in matching NbS needs and scenarios to appropriate simulation and modelling platforms. By going “Beyond SDGs” and enabling robust scenario and impact testing at the design stage, this review fills a critical methodological gap and offers actionable recommendations for integrating micro-climate simulations into NbS planning workflows.
Keywords: Nature-based Solutions, micro-climate simulation tools, ENVI-met, SOLWEIG, RayMan, CitySim, COMFA, VTUF-3D, urban sustainability, decision-support tools, scoping review, built environment