From the point of view of urban consumption behavior, urban fresh water consumption could be classified as three types, namely, direct, indirect and induced water consumption. A calculation approach of urban fresh water consumption was presented based on the theory of urban basic material consumption and the input-output method, which was utilized to calculate urban fresh water consumption of China, and to analyze its structural change and causes. The results show that the total urban fresh water consumption increased 561.7×109m3, and the proportion to the total national fresh water resources increased by 20 percentage points from 1952 to 2005. The proportion of direct and induced water consumption had been continuously rising, and it increased by 15 and 35 percentage points separately from 1952 to 2005, while the proportion of indirect water consumption decreased by 50 percentage points. Urban indi-rect water consumption was mainly related to urban grain, beef and mutton consumption, and urban induced water consumption had a close relationship with the amount of carbon emission per capita. Finally, some countermeasures were put forward to realize sustainable utilization of urban fresh water resources in China.