 Urban blasts have become a major concern in recent years due to the complexity of the environment they occur in. Free field blasts are relatively easy to model, but when an urban setting is introduced, multiple blast wave interactions and flow complexities increase the difficulty of making accurate predictions. This review summarizes common concepts used to describe urban shockwave propagation, such as channeling and shielding, and explores characterization metrics that can be used to predict the effects of an urban blast on global loading. Discrepancies and contradictions are also highlighted to encourage further research into these areas. Numerical models are recognized as a useful tool for validating and testing new ideas, and the findings from this review will help guide future research directions. This article was authored by Adam Ratcliffe, Sam Rigby, Sam Clark, and others.