If the URN-style IDs are going to be useful, they need to be included in References and Links. Based on the schema, it seems the id attribute is optional but I've never actually seen one.
Here is an example of what I mean:
<Catalog xmlns="http://www.vmware.com/vcloud/v1.5" name="ExampleCatalog" type="application/vnd.vmwar... id="urn:vcloud:catalogitem:221" type="application/vnd.vmware.vcloud.catalogItem+xml" name="Ubuntu Template with vsftpd" href="https...
<Catalog xmlns="http://www.vmware.com/vcloud/v1.5" name="ExampleCatalog" type="application/vnd.vmwar...
id="urn:vcloud:catalogitem:221"
type="application/vnd.vmware.vcloud.catalogItem+xml" name="Ubuntu Template with vsftpd" href="https...