Over the past 20 years, China has experienced multiple economic transitions characterized by marketization, globalization, decentralization, and urbanization; as a result, urban land development intensity (ULDI) has become a significant issue for sustainable development. As China’s largest globalized urban area, the rapid socio-economic development of the Yangtze River Delta has created a huge demand for urban land. We apply a theoretical framework for a four-dimensional analysis tool to understand the dynamic evolution of the ULDI in the cont...