A Small-Scale Study in Urban Metabolism for Developing Countries:from Theory to Practice

The study of urban metabolism in developing countries often faces many challenges, with the primary reason being the lack of available data. This study aimed to practically apply a suitable method to calculate the material and energy flows from households’ consumption in the extended Ho Chi Minh City area. After a literature review of small-scale urban material studies, a method of Material Input Per Service (MIPS) was selected to proceed further household consumption calculations. The consumption aspects included electricity, water, food, shopping, leisure, transport and travel. We combined face-to-face interviews with households and the random online surveys to the research subjects. A total of 293 responses were collected during April to August, 2025. The overall MIPS results indicated that household resource consumption in the area was significantly higher than established sustainability thresholds. The use of the MIPS method helped to quantify material and energy flows in household consumption, thereby enabling the identification of aspects and behaviors that can be changed towards more sustainable consumption.