Urban and Environmental Engineering is an essential field of study for human beings. We consider the topics on human-nature harmonization, resource economizing, reducing the gap between rich and poor, ‘designeering’ for the marginalized; these are important and practical topics to explore, under the vision of making other people’s lives better.

Students of Urban and Environmental Engineering explore a wide range of fields of study, including Spatial Studies, Economics, Developmental Economics, etc. This is because Urban and Environmental Engineering is a field that is directly related to people’s daily lives, and therefore, a comprehensive understanding of humanities is required of the students. With a firm foundation of fundamentals and humanities, students delve into Urban Planning and Design, Land Use Planning and Development, Theory of Urban Structure, Theory of Housing and Habitation, Environmental Impact Assessment, Environmental Ecological Engineering, etc.

Urban and Environmental Engineering major can be divided into Urban Planning, Urban Designing, and International Development Studies (HGU specialty) tracks.

Urban Planning track seeks to find solutions (create guidelines) to urban problems such as traffic congestion, noise problems, and crimes.

While the Urban Planning track attempts to look at the bigger picture and make guidelines, the Urban Design track seeks to apply the guidelines to real action. Students can experience from small-town designing to entire city-level masterplan designing.

This track seeks to give solutions for developing countries’ major issues: poverty, substandard houses, economic development issues, environmental policy issues, etc.

Designeering to give hope to others
Students of Urban and Environmental Engineering major study to help others–especially developing countries–with spatial and urban engineering knowledge acquired from major course studies.

Every year, students and professors of Urban and Environmental Engineering visit developing countries to understand the needs of developing countries, and to meet the local university students and professors to cooperate. This program did bear good fruits: one of them is the Group NIBC. NIBC is a company established by a group of SESE alumni who had a strong vocation for helping developing countries. They are working hard for their missions of urban development, town planning, homebuilding, and introducing appropriate technologies for developing countries.