Under the stimulation of the external environment, plants will maintain their own growth by releasing volatile organic compounds. Urban areas are the main places of human activities. Intensely anthropogenic disturbances lead to complex changes in urban environmental characteristics, which makes the emission of volatile organic compounds from urban plants greatly different from that of natural plants. The biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) in urban area can directly contact with the oxidizing substances, generating secondary pollutants, and cause photochemical reactions under high temperature and strong light conditions. BVOCs could seriously deteriorate the urban atmospheric environment and harm the health of residents. This paper summarized the common types, action mechanisms, and existing research methods of urban BVOCs, analyzed the emission characteristics of urban BVOCs in different temporal, spatial, and human activity contexts. We further combed the limitations of current researches, and proposed the future research directions. The objective of this paper is to provide guidance for urban management in atmospheric environment management, environmental spatial planning, and residents' health protection.