Objectives Lanzhou New Area is an important window for the development of northwest China. In recent years, the large‐scale construction of mountain excavation and city construction project has led to different degrees of land subsidence, which has seriously threatened the economic and social development of the new area.
Methods Taking Lanzhou New Area as the research object, this paper uses small baseline subset interferometric synthetic aperture radar (SBAS‐InSAR) to process 58 ascending Sentinel‐1A image data covering the study area from May 2017 to February 2021. The distribution characteristics and spatio temporal evolution of land subsidence in the study area were obtained, and the SBAS‐InSAR measurement results were verified by field investigation. Then the related factors affecting land subsidence were discussed.
Results The results show that land subsidence in Lanzhou New Area is mainly concentrated in mountain excavation and city construction area, with an area of about 33.5 km2 and a maximum subsidence rate of -68 mm/a. In space, with the development of excavation and filling projects, the land subsidence develops to the southeast of the new district, and the land surface presents a long‐term continuous settlement process.
Conclusions Land subsidence is closely related to many factors such as mountain excavation and city construction project, thickness of excavation and filling, geology and road. Specifically, mountain excavation and city construction project control the spatial extent of land subsidence, and then the filling thickness control the magnitude of land subsidence. The nature of artificial fill is an intrinsic factor causing land subsidence, while road construction will also accelerate the process of land subsidence. The research results can provide scientific basis for the sustainable and safe development of the new district and urban planning and construction.