Abstract In this paper, through construction of the study system of urban residential differentiation, the authors analyze the spatial process of residential differentiation and believe that urban residential differentiation can be regarded as the interweaving impact of those two process:(1) spatialization of social or class differentiation;(2) adjustment by individual residential behavior. Then author research five kinds of social institutions which impact social-spatial differentiation:(1) government and its effect as land owner;(2) the development process of builders and real estates;(3) the impact of financial institute on social-spatial unbalance;(4) the impact of real estates on neighborhood and(5) the methodology of urban planning and its ideology. Then, the authors point out that the background of the transmition of urban social geography of China is:(1) the transformation of political economy since 1978;(2) the labor divided in international region and the development of global economy and(3) the transmition of economic structure under the lead of know ledge economy. As a review, the authors thought that in west, the theoretical research concentrate in capital movement fields, and their field study focuses on the relation among:(1) those factors of urban and land development;(2) some special institutions, such as real estate, land administrate;(3) and evaluate the effect of those factors' interference. In our opinions, the key of understanding the process and result of residential differentiation in urban landscape research is depending on built environment, product and reproducing process. Moreover, in order to show the mechanism of urban spatial structure, we should pay attention to the development of social organization, evaluating the effect of social interference.
2002, Vol. 17 
