Underlying the influencing factors behind the heterogeneous change of urban landscape patterns since 1990: A multiple dimension analysis

•At the early stage, urban landscape was regular in shape and highly fragmented.•Small patches of urban land were connected into large patches through urban expansion.•The shape complexity of eastern cities and megacities first increased and then dropped.•Tertiary industry was the main factor affecting the increase in urban land area.•Heterogeneous measures should be considered for future urban landscape planning.