This paper clarifies the roles played by government officials specialized in civil engineering in urban reform during the Meiji era in Japan. This clarification was made by studying the process until the initiation of the urban reform projects titled the Three Major Projects in Kyoto city, which were completed in 1912, as a case example for analysis. In the process of analysis, I clarified the emergence of two types of engineers according to differences in the roles they played. One is the engineer who developed the mayor's urban reform concept into a specific design plan. Not having studied modern technology, the engineer made a mistake in the design of civil engineering projects that required advanced technology, and the person was held responsible for the mistake in the city council. This incidence led to the appearance of another type of engineer. This engineer graduated from the Department of Civil Engineering of Kyoto Imperial University and mastered modern civil engineering. He then attempted to take initiative in council reform using his advanced knowledge.