Cities are the most impacted by climate change, yet they are the largest contributor to its impacts. Nowadays more than 50% of the global population lives in cities and in less than three decades nearly two-thirds will reside in urban areas. Since the goal to keep the temperature increase to 1.5 °C is still far-reaching, cities must identify the urgent pathway to leverage their adaptation while acting proactively with stakeholders and the community in order to deal with the current and future effects of climate change. This master thesis aims to understand how cities can adapt to climate change by transforming urban spaces to cope with climate hazards, specifically by understanding if Urban Climate Shelters are an effective way to resolve the intricate interplay between policy and practice.