Rapid urbanization results in the great development of underground facilities. This is underlined by the rapidly increasing number of metro lines, utility tunnels, water conveyance tunnels, underground stations, underground cities, underground garages, and underground storages for water, grains, data devices, etc. High utilization of urban underground space (UUS) requires Intensive Construction Technology (ICT). The latter refers to the reduction of precious resources, e.g. land, time, and cost, used for construction of underground structures and to the increase of the economic, social, and environmental benefits gained from use of the underground space made accessible. A large number of novel techniques are developed for geological survey, design, construction, and maintenance of the underground facilities. Their development is a consequence of the industrial revolutions. Therefore, such technology has exhibited distinctive industrial characteristics, e.g. mechanization, automation, digitization, and intellectualization. ICT has been widely used in practices, resulting in reliable and resilient underground structures. However, the involved scientific issues are just unfolding, due to a knowledge gap between the communities of scientists and engineers. This provides the motivation for this special issue to overview both the scientific developments and the engineering projects, related to ITC in the field of urban underground engineering. It is aimed to bridge the gap between the communities of scientists and engineers, identify the international frontiers of research, and convert the technology of practice into scientific achievements of human civilization.