Abstract: Night light remote sensing can directly reflect the intensity of human activities and the trajectory of urban expansion in resource-exhausted cities, which is conducive to promoting the green and low-carbon transformation and development of resource-exhausted cities.This study takes Jiaozuo City, a typical resource-exhausted city in the Yellow River Basin, as the research object.Based on NPP/VIIRS-like night light remote sensing data, the identification of the built-up area of the city is carried out, the expansion and spatial structure evolution of the built-up area of Jiaozuo City from 2000 to 2024 are analyzed.The results show that: (1)The built-up area of Jiaozuo City has increased from 52 km² to 119 km².The expansion process presents three stages: "rapid expansion-fluctuating development-internal optimization", reflecting that the spatial structure of resource-exhausted cities has shifted from extensive outward expansion to intensive internal development.(2)The overall urban center of gravity shows a trend of shifting from "northwest to southeast", indicating the leading role of functional new areas in the reconstruction of urban structure under policy guidance.(3) SPSS univariate analysis shows that the expansion of built-up areas is highly positively correlated with permanent resident population, primary industry, GDP, and urbanization rate, and negatively correlated with raw coal output.(4) Geographic detector analysis indicates that natural condition factors are gradually weakening, and policy guidance, infrastructure construction and the aggregation of new industries have become the core driving forces for urban expansion and functional reconstruction.This study reveals the transformation path of typical resource-exhausted city from resource-driven to green and low-carbon development, providing a scientific basis for the green and low-carbon transformation and development of resource-exhausted cities.