Is urban environmental management the expertise of the future? This article discusses the emergence of environmental management and planning as a distinct field of professional expertise. The article examines the current issues with urban environmental management. The article discusses the emergence of management and professional expertise. While urban environmental management has historically been seen as a subset of broader environmental management, the Rio Conference in 1992 and the renewed emphasis on urban environmental problems have propelled it into a new field. This emerging field requires a new set of skills, and the article raises the crucial question of how higher education can provide formal training for this new type of professional. It highlights an initiative by the Asian Institute of Technology (Bangkok) to propose and offer a new graduate program in urban environmental management, recognizing the growing need for specialized education.