Urbanization in China has led to significant changes in land use and urban morphology over the past two decades. A new method called the local climate zone (LCZ) scheme was used to map these changes in three major urban areas. The study found that high-rise and open urban areas have increased in size, especially in expanding and renewing urban areas. From 2000 to 2020, differences in urban morphology between the three urban areas decreased, but differences in land use within urban areas increased.