Abstract: Urban transformation is discussed widely in the studies of urban development recently, which has gained quiet much attention from scholars and city managers. As the rapid advance of globalization, application of new technology and the increasing pressure from resource and environment, many cities all over the world have entered the rail of urban transformation and related research emerging gradually. This paper firstly represented the definition and connotation of urban transformation, secondly compared domestic and overseas research progress by related achievements published in CNKI and Web of Science respectively; thirdly discussed the definition and driving force of urban transformation based on former studies; lastly gained conclusion like the limitation in definition or study object, and gave some suggestions for future studies.