The development of ecological space is a response to the increasingly severe urban ecological environment. Since the reform and opening up，in order to improve the urban ecological environment and meet the growing demand for ecological products of the residents，the urban ecological space in Shanghai has experienced four stages of development：brewing exploration，scale expansion，structural optimization and function enhancement，and an ecological spatial pattern of “Ring，wedge，gallery，garden and forest” was formed. Shanghai is making every effort to build a superior global city，ecological space is needed to combine with urban quality and citizen demand. Shanghai is still facing similar challenges in further improving the level of urban ecological space development，such as the incomplete system of ecological space construction management，the uneven distribution of ecological space supply and demand，and the limited potential for ecological space scale growth. Drawing on the development trend of urban ecological space，Shanghai needs to build a diversified institutional innovation of government-led，market operation and public participation，promote the integration development of different types and functional of ecological spaces，innovate the path of urban ecological space expansion，optimize the components of the ecological space and promote the performance management of the ecological red line.