Abstract:In the context of accelerating the development of modern urban agglomerations and improving the spatial governance system in China, high-density cities with a continuously growing population concentration will become an important subject in the future urban design theory and practice. This paper, from the perspective of morphology, reviews the initial causes of high-density cities in urban development history and summarizes the design theory and practice exploration in order to address the challenges of high-density cities. Utilizing CiteSpace knowledge map analysis, this study examines the latest research progress on the morphology of high-density cities internationally over the past 30 years. Based on the clustering structure and context spectrum of their related fields, three mainstream research categories are summarized, corresponding to the social, economic, and ecological systems. Finally, in response to the practical issues faced by urban development in China, the paper proposes urban design strategies and technological innovation mechanisms, exploring the implementation way for improving the quality and the refined operation of future high-density city morphologies.