BACKGROUND:
Municipal decisions influence local population health outcomes both directly (e.g., fluoridation, road safety, and tobacco control) and indirectly through broader social, cultural, and environmental determinants of health such as housing, transportation, economic and opportunity. Despite the important impacts and lauded potential of municipal and local health system partnerships, evidence on their models, effectiveness, and outcomes remains limited. This scoping review fills this knowledge gap by mapping the literature on municipal–public health partnerships with a focus on partnership models, reported outcomes, and the barriers and facilitators shaping their success.

METHODS:
Following Arksey and O’Malley’s framework and Joanna Briggs Institute guidance, we searched fourteen academic databases across a wide range of disciplines, and multiple grey literature sources. Eligible studies (2006–2024, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries, English language) examined partnerships between municipalities and local public health systems. Two reviewers independently screened, extracted, and thematically analyzed data using NVivo.

RESULTS:
From 1,392 records, 105 studies were included. Two broad partnership models emerged: (1) ad-hoc, project-based collaborations, and (2) institutionalized collaborations, including federalism, Health in All Policies, and strategic planning arrangements. Barriers included inadequate funding (48 studies), cultural and relational mismatches (33), system fragmentation and data-sharing challenges (32). Facilitators included community engagement (34), capacity building (33). Most studies (65%) focused solely on the implementation process of partnerships, while only nine studies (8%) examined health outcomes, reporting associations with improvements in areas such as smoking cessation and transportation equity.

CONCLUSIONS:
Municipal–public health partnerships are under-evaluated, with the literature still dominated by process-focused studies and limited outcome/ impact assessments. Recent evaluation guidance calls for broader outcome, impact, economic, and mixed-methods approaches, so partnerships can be meaningfully assessed for their contributions to population health, equity, and value for money. Sustained funding, robust governance, and strong relational infrastructure remain essential for successful collaboration.