Urban sprawl is driven by a myriad of factors, the predominant one of which is the development of residential land. Selecting part of Jinan City for a case study, we use the landscape metric of percent of landscape (PLAND) to capture residential land growth and density changes in 1989, 1996 and 2004 to illuminate the dynamic process of residential land development. The results indicate that the moving window method and the landscape metrics method are efficient ways to describe residential land density. The residential land showed the greatest change among the built-up land with 1995.68 ha from 1989 to 2004, which is mainly transformed from agriculture land and green space. The urban center area of study area is primarily covered with medium density residential land, and surrounded by high density residential land. The development pattern of residential land exhibited both fill-in (new growth occurs through infilling the free spaces within the developed area) and sprawl processes, influenced by a series of factors, such as urban development policy, conservation of springs, recreational and aesthetic amenities. The findings of the study will help to guide urban planning with a focus on the management and protection of the environment and resources.
