 This study uses remote sensing data and landscape metrics to analyze the spatiotemporal changes in urban lakes in China between 1990 and 2015, revealing a decrease of 24.22% in total surface area with an increase in fragmentation and reduction in shape complexity. The three lake shrinkage types identified are varnishment, edge shrinkage, and tunneling, with urban sprawl being the dominant driver accounting for 67.89% of the total area loss. This study provides critical baseline information for decision making in lake resources management and urban landscape design. This article was offered by Tsongxie, Qinhuang, Leiguangwang, and others.