The urban climate faces numerous challenges stemming from climate change and escalating populations. The built environment and lifestyle patterns exacerbate these challenges, resulting in an intensified urban heating effect. These challenges include poor air quality, heat island effects, and increase risks of floods/droughts with change in land use cover. Addressing many of these challenges hinges on effective urban ventilation strategies. Urban ventilation can be evaluated and improved using different tools and techniques. This study's primary objective is to thoroughly review these tools and techniques used in modeling urban ventilation, with a specific focus on identifying common challenges in modeling and charting future directions for improvement. The study commences by providing an overview of the need to evaluate urban ventilation. A brief overview of these tools and techniques is followed by the most prevalent issues and essential research avenues for improving urban ventilation assessment. The outcomes of this study hold considerable value in fostering sustainable urban environments, as they furnish guidance for enhancing existing techniques and tools. Specifically, this work serves as a valuable resource for the modeling community and newcomers to the field of research.