<p>Land use conflicts (LUCs) pose a major challenge to urbanization, and their effective regulation is essential for promoting sustainable regional land use. However, the influence of urban development on conflicts has often been overlooked. This study developed an index system from three dimensions—agricultural production, residential life, and ecological security—and quantified LUCs in China using spatial statistics and a coupling relationship matrix. It further explored the spatial relationships between conflict types and urban built-up areas (UBA) through accessibility analysis, and applied regression analysis to reveal the spatial evolution of conflicts from an urban-scale perspective. The results showed that agricultural-construction conflicts were concentrated in the eastern plains, while agricultural-ecological conflicts prevailed in the mountainous areas in the western region. Spatial distribution of the distance from conflicts to UBA (DCU) exhibited a clear east-west gradient, being closer in the east (less than 20 km) and farther in the west. Between 2000 and 2020, LUCs moved progressively closer to UBA, except in the ecologically fragile western region. For all urban hierarchies except small cities, the average distance was below 10 km; megacities exhibited the shortest DCU, roughly half that of small cities. Moreover, LUCs displayed significant hierarchical scale effects: as urban size increased, distance tended to decrease in a non-linear pattern, with the steepest decline occurring in central China. Land management authorities should work to curb sprawling urban development. Overall, this study provides new insights into the spatial evolution of LUCs and contributes to more sustainable land use management.</p>