The land system science is indeed a fascinating field. However, it does face challenges, such as it is difficult to integrate due to its complexity. This paper reviews the researches of the land systems, in order to find an effective way to understand scientifically the land systems based on the ideas of the generative theory in the systems science. It is shown that the cognition and the understanding of the land systems from the perspective of the system generation theory can help more closely come to the essence that the land systems are complex open systems generated by the transformation, the utilization and the adaptation by human beings of the earth's land surface and certain spaces above and below it, including the geographical environment, the land use and the social economy, all of which are mutually interconnected. As open and complex systems, the land systems feature the multifunctionality, the energy conversion, the material production, the ecological maintenance, the resource supply, the social security, and the cultural nurture. With the system generation theory as the logical starting point, and based on the theory of the hypercycle, the regional differentiation and the geographical process, the study of the land systems should not only focus on the basic researches of the land system generation mechanism, the process, the adaptability, and the tele coupling, but also solve the problems of the two-way collaboration between the science and the policy practices.

land system  /  land system architecture  /  land system function  /  system generation theory