Urban engineers provide a physical definition of the urban habitat by planning, designing, building and constructing, operating, and maintaining infrastructure, applying the tools of engineering, science, and good management to address the complex problems associated with infrastructure, services, buildings, environment, and land-use generally encountered in cities.

Urban Engineering serves as a textbook to support a range of undergraduate courses in civil and environmental engineering, urban planning, and related areas. It is broad and inclusive, and takes a modular approach, where each theme is discussed comprehensively from the macro to the micro level. Highlights include urban design, housing, wastewater systems, transportation systems, smart cities, and urban agriculture.

The textbook has a particular emphasis on engineering solutions in sustainability.