Urban expansion in recent decades brought about profound nature environmental effects such as heated island, flooding, soil erosion, air pollution and biodiversity loss. Ignorance of these effects will lead to further irreversible destructions. it is necessary to study about "how and to what aspects can land use morphology affect environmental performance?". In this paper, the effects of urban expansion on environment are studied by morphology in order to link the knowledge of environment with urban planning/design. Firstly, the relationship between urban expansion and natural environment is generally described by introducing some concepts of land use morphology and environmental performance, the significance of applying morphological study to environment is highlighted. Secondly, a lot of research results of environment problems such as carbon emission, the pollution of air, water, soil erosion, and biodiversity loss are reviewed from the viewpoint of morphology. Finally, some conclusions and discussion are remarked for future urban planning/design for making contributions to environment.@en