Urban fringe studies are developed quickly in recent years, but it is still a blank spot in China.The authors in this paper discussed the basic concepts of urban fringe, the rise and development of urban fringe studies, the fundamental contents of urban fringe studies.The authors believe that studies of urban fringe in China will have vast developable prospect and profound theoretical and practical significance, and that the main studies at present are.(1) zoning of urban built-up area; (2) relationships between urban development (population migration, transportation lines, enterprise diffusion, and ect.) and urban fringe. (3) pattern of urban fringe development in different periods. (4) model of urban fringe spread and evaluation of urban land-use; and etc..