Abstract: In this study, three basic concepts: image object, geospatial object, and urban spatial object were examined, and the dissimilarities and relations among them were elaborated. Three criteriaboundary, attributes, and scale-were proposed to characterize different types of geospatial objects. This research reveals that each geospatial or urban spatial object is defined by three components: identity, state and behavior. These three components are represented by unique name (or identification number), attributes, and relationships respectively. In addition, the information associated with an object has three dimensions: theme, space and time. The thematic, spatial, temporal attributes and relationships are the information underpinnings of a geospatial and urban spatial object. As a significant result of this paper, a general framework for object-oriented analysis of urban spatial information is established. The author believes that this framework may have wide applications in the field.

Key words: urban, spatial information, Remote Sensing images, theoretical framework, object-oriented, urban, spatial information, Remote Sensing images, theoretical framework