Rising complexities and uncertainties have emphasized the need to employ scenario thinking in urban design and planning. While different scenario methods have been widely used across disciplines, a comprehensive review of scenario approaches in planning literature is limited. Thus, we provide an overview of scenarios and existing scenario approaches currently in practice. We also review a scenario building process to provide a guide for developing scenarios in the context of urban design and planning. The process highlights the different steps that contribute to adaptive planning and improve decision-making.