Abstract: Under China's territorial spatial planning reform, establishing effective pathways for transmitting land- and space-use controls is essential to improving coordination, operability, and implementation. As the “five levels and three categories” planning system has been put into local practice, institutional effectiveness has improved, but problems in both vertical and horizontal transmission have become increasingly apparent. Combining “semantic–element” analysis with interviews of planning practitioners, this paper divides municipal use-control elements into three categories—indicators, spatial elements, and action or project matters—and clarifies their regulatory meanings. Using Changsha as a case, it identifies major problems in transmitting controls among the municipal master plan, sectoral plans, and detailed plans. Policy recommendations are proposed in three areas: clarifying the semantic objects and meanings of transmission elements; establishing the sequence and rules governing transmission pathways; and creating an integrated information platform that coordinates rigid control with flexible guidance. The study provides support for unifying the intentions of territorial spatial planning use control and improving plan implementation.