This chapter examines how the digital turn can transform the ways urban metabolism is represented and used. It considers how data, digital platforms and more responsive forms of observation can move metabolic narratives closer to real-world and real-time urban conditions.

The contribution reflects on the relationship between analytical models and the changing systems they seek to describe. Digital approaches create opportunities for more timely and operational knowledge, while also raising questions about interpretation, accessibility and the translation of data into planning.

The chapter anticipates the Lab’s later work on spatial data, AI and urban intelligence. It positions digital methods not as ends in themselves but as tools for making resource systems more legible and decision-relevant.