Municipal engineering is a field of engineering that deals with the operation and problems of urban areas, applying the tools of engineering, science, and art. It is mainly concerned with the design, specification, construction, and maintenance of municipal infrastructures such as sidewalks, streets, storage depots, water system, sewers, telecommunication services, electricity supply, solid waste management, and public parks. Several areas of municipal engineering have similarities with some civil engineering fields, though it focuses more on the management of the municipal infrastructure systems and services because they are frequently built and managed concurrently by the same municipal organization.
Municipal engineering is sometimes mistaken for urban design and planning. While urban planning deals with the design of the general arrangement of streets and public places, municipal engineering, on the other hand, is concerned with the detailed plans and specifications for the roads, sidewalks, municipal services, etc. In nearly all engineering consulting companies, structural engineering and municipal engineering are two separate departments. For example, on a specific construction project, the civil engineering department generally handles the structural section and concentrates on the buildings, while the “municipal” side is designed by municipal engineers, focusing on the site.