Abstract: Based on 30 m × 30 m resolution land use images from 1990 to 2020 in Kunming City, the spatial evolution characteristics of landscape patterns and the response of the disturbance in the study area were analyzed by using land use transfer matrix, gradient analysis, and landscape disturbance degree. The results show that during the urbanization of Kunming, the building land has increased by 3 times in 30 years, 80% of the expansion land comes from farmland, and 14% from grassland. Driven by the policy, forest land shows an increasing trend, with an average annual increment of 50 km². The built-up area shows a multi-point leaping expansion from the center of mass to the axis of the built-up area. The main expansion directions are southeast, southwest and northwest. In Kunming, 90% of the interference was LD and LMD, the MD was 7%, and the proportion of MHD and HD was 3% in total. Within 4 km of the central built-up area, the MD accounted for 15%, the MHD and HD accounted for 8%, and the landscape interference degree was higher than at other distances. This study can provide important basis for the formulation of land planning scheme and the regulation of urban development direction in Kunming.