Urban metabolism is widely defined as the sum total of the technical and socioeconomic processes that
occur in cities, resulting in resource consumption, growth, production of energy, and elimination of waste.
With the growing importance of tackling the global and local resource impacts of cities, collection of
urban metabolism data should become a mainstream activity for all medium to large cities. The Urban
Development and Local Government Unit of the World Bank has conducted abbreviated urban
metabolism studies for 7 client cities (Amman, Beijing, Buenos Aires, Cape Town, Metro Manila, Rio de
Janeiro, and Sao Paulo) using data from national and local statistical agencies and departments. These
studies are presented in this paper, the data gathering challenges outlined, and recommendations made as
to how local governments can institutionalize the collection of metabolism information and use it to
inform local sustainability programs, and projects.