In recent years, Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) have received extensive attention as important precursors in photochemical processes causing serious urban ozone pollution and hazy weather that adversely affect human health. The species, sources, sinks, generation mechanisms, monitoring technology, pollution characteristics, environmental effects, control measures, and problems in the current environmental governance of urban atmospheric VOCs are summarized through literature research. Additionally, we propose potential future research focuses, which will provide a scientific basis for improving urban air quality and achieving balance between economic development and ecological environment. The main conclusions are as follows:
VOCs contain a variety of chemical components, and the emission sources and removal routes are diverse;
The VOC monitoring methods are divided into offline and online monitoring;
The temporal and spatial variations are complex because of different chemical activities and meteorological factors; and
the generation potential of O3 and secondary organic aerosols of VOCs is related to their chemical reactivity intensity and the types of emission sources, which can be removed by different measures.