In the context of intensified global climate change, extreme weather events are occurring with increasing frequency and severity, posing significant challenges to the stability of socio-economic systems. Urban areas, characterized by high population density and intensive economic activity, exhibit greater exposure and vulnerability to climate risks compared to other regions. These dynamics amplify climate-related risks, necessitating urgent action. Accurate identification of climate risks, robust adaptation strategies, and enhanced urban resilience have thus become central themes in global research and policy discourse. To systematically investigate evolving trends and emerging hotspots in urban climate adaptation research, this study employs CiteSpace software to conduct a bibliometric analysis. Leveraging keyword co-occurrence, clustering, keyword burst detection, and co-citation analysis, we quantitatively assess urban climate adaptation literature from Web of Science (WOS) and CNKI core journal databases. The findings of this analysis can be summarized as follows: (1) In terms of the international research landscape, the field of urban adaptation to climate change has yielded a substantial body of academic work, characterized by multidisciplinary research. In terms of national/regional distribution, the United States, China, and England rank among the top, with most publications appearing in high-impact journals. However, it is noteworthy that the international academic influence of Chinese research still have room for improvement. The analysis of collaborative networks shows that the Chinese Academy of Sciences occupies a central position in the institutional collaboration network. However, overall, the construction of collaborative networks among research institutions and scholars is still insufficient, and there is an urgent need to strengthen mechanisms for academic exchange and cooperation. (2) Regarding the evolution of research themes, existing studies mainly cover three major directions: urban climate risk identification and assessment, the construction of urban adaptation strategies, and the study of adaptation capacity building in typical regions. Research hotspots exhibit distinct stage characteristics: early studies focused on basic assessments of the impacts of climate change, while recent research has shifted towards multidimensional and systematic adaptation strategies. In terms of research perspectives, the focus has expanded from a single analysis of the impacts of climate change to a more diverse range of dimensions, including urban vulnerability, sustainability, resilience enhancement, and adaptation capacity building, with the gradual incorporation of interdisciplinary considerations such as energy, environment, and policy. The current research frontier is focused on the innovation of strategies and technological applications for climate change adaptation, with particular attention to Nature-based Solutions (NbS). (3) In terms of the current status and future outlook of China's research, domestic studies on urban adaptation to climate change are still in the early stages of development, with a gap existing in the scale of research teams and the quantity of research outputs compared to international advanced levels. To advance research and practice in urban adaptation to climate change in the future, it is recommended that efforts be focused on the following aspects: deepening research on key scientific issues, strengthening theoretical exploration and practical application of NbS, promoting interdisciplinary and international cooperation, and driving technological innovation and the transformation of research results, in order to comprehensively enhance China's research level and practical capacity in the field of urban adaptation to climate change.