As urbanization continues to accelerate, urban governance is struggling to adapt to the environmental and sustainability challenges. The high degree of urban sprawl demands urban planning to be reinvented in order to improve land and resource allocations. This creates further tension between urban and peri-urban areas (locations of close proximity to cities) in terms of economic and environmental sustainability. This Recommendation proposes to analyse and solve these urban problems and challenges by using the city science method. It will demonstrate that by using empirical evidence such as data, the city science method provides the most reliable and consistent way for cities to tackle urban challenges.