Abstract: The safety and stability of urban food systems are essential to public health and urban resilience and have become a major concern in urban and rural planning, particularly in the post-pandemic era. From a planning perspective, this paper clarifies the concept of the urban food system, identifies its localized characteristics, and deconstructs the elements subject to planning governance. It then discusses regulatory approaches and planning strategies in response to the principal challenges currently facing Chinese cities. The analysis shows that every component of an urban food system is closely linked to planning. Key elements include agricultural land, transport and logistics networks, “last-mile” facilities, and the people who produce, distribute, and consume food. Food supply is maintained through a nested multiscalar network spanning global, national, local, and community or household levels. The paper recommends coordinating territorial spatial planning, community planning, and sectoral plans according to each city's characteristics and functional role. Priorities include improving the allocation of agricultural land, clarifying functional divisions within food supply chains, strengthening transport and logistics networks, and optimizing the distribution of food-retail outlets.