Urbanization exerts a considerable influence on land surface phenology (LSP), however, the extent and spatial footprint of such impacts have not been thoroughly investigated. Here, we derived the LSP parameters based on the MOD13Q1 product and quantified urbanization's impact along an area-based urban-rural gradient. According to our findings, urbanization causes the start of the growing season (SOS) to begin earlier and the end of the growing season (EOS) to terminate later in urban areas. This effect exhibits a logarithmic decay pattern along the urban-rural gradient, with its footprint proportional to urban size. For the total area, urbanization's footprint on SOS was 5 to 5.5 times the urban size beyond its boundary, while that of EOS ranged from 4.5 to 5.5 times. The urban-rural difference in SOS was greater in regions characterized by cold dry winters, while the difference in EOS was greater in arid regions and climate zones with hot summers and dry winters. Urbanization exerted a broader footprint on LSP where adequate moisture and mild summer temperatures converge. Croplanddominated areas exhibited greater urban-rural differences in EOS and a wider footprint of urbanization on SOS. These findings highlight the necessity of considering climate background, latitude, and vegetation type in urban-rural phenology research, which is crucial for understanding the variations in urban ecosystems under the backdrop of global climate change.