Abstract: By analyzing the internal structure of urbanization and measuring the interaction among population, land and industrial subsystems, the development process of urbanization and the spatio-temporal evolution process can be understood. This study systematically analyzes the spatio-temporal evolution characteristics of ‘population-land-industry’ urbanization in Hainan Province, the leading subsystem of urbanization development, the static and dynamic coordination ability of each subsystem, and the dispersion degree of each element in each geographical unit at different times. Then it summarizes the main characteristics of urbanization development in Hainan and made a preliminary explanation. The findings are as follows: (1) Hainan Province has repeatedly undertaken national and regional policies and major projects, and its urbanization development is characterized by "abrupt changes". However, external stimulus has not effectively promoted the adjustment of its industrial structure and the development of non-agricultural employment. (2) Cities and counties in Hainan province are undergoing the process of ‘polarization-diffusion’. Haikou and Sanya are characterized by ‘polarization’, and the differences in urbanization level and structure of cities and counties are gradually narrowing. (3) With the rapid development of tourism and real estate, land urbanization has become the main mode of urbanization development in Hainan Province, the coordination degree between-population-and-land and between-industry-and-land lags behind. In the context of the construction of the free trade port with Chinese features (Hainan FTP), this study expects to provide reference for coordinating provincial towns' development and improving the quality of urbanization in the future.