Seen as a global concern, heat islands are one of the causes of the process of degradation of the quality of urban environments, which imply great effects on the well-being of citizens. Examples include air pollution, diseases associated with high temperatures, reduction of green areas, and also water quality. In light of this, the study aims to verify how scientific publications relate to the heat island theme in the contemporary context, analyzing the scopes of innovation in different fields. To this end, a qualitative analysis was carried out, with exploratory and descriptive design, by means of a bibliometric review in the last 5 years. The results obtained demonstrate that interest in mitigating urban heat islands can impact the environmental, social, and psychological well-being of residents. Finally, it can be seen that when considering the reduction of urban heat islands for the development of efficient innovations, new habit transformations can arise, such as the quantitative and qualitative increase of green areas, as well as the balanced organization of society and the environment.