While there are many examples on vulnerability mapping for climate-related hazards in the academic literature, there is very limited evidence of those maps being used by practitioners to achieve a systematic and long-term reduction of risk and vulnerability from climate-related hazards. The authors have identified spatial planners as key players in reducing risks from climate-related hazards in urban areas and use existing spatial planning laws as the starting point to define the legal requirements vulnerability maps need to fulfill to be usable by spatial planners. This innovative approach presented for the example of spatial planning in Stuttgart, Germany demonstrates a promising way to overcome the current gap between research and practice on urban climate change adaptation.