To explore the land use characteristics and spatial and temporal changes of landslides in Tianshui City, Gansu Province, Qinzhou District and Maiji District were selected as the representatives of typical loess landslide areas, based on 12.5 m resolution ALOS DEM data and the global 30 m fine ground cover dynamic monitoring products from 1985 to 2020, using GIS spatial analysis, land use net change volume index, land use transfer matrix and land use contribution ratio to analyze the characteristic parameters, land use/cover types, land use transfer characteristics and driving factors of landslides. The results showed that: (1) A total of 469 landslide samples were identified in the study area, with the average elevation concentrated in 1 200~1 400 m and the average slope concentrated in 10°~15°, the average aspect was westward slope, the relative height difference between the front and back edges concentrated in 100~150 m, the landslide area concentrated in 1×10⁴~10×10⁴ m², and the sliding length concentrated in 200~400 m. (2) From 1985 to 2020, the landslides were the most frequent in rainfed croplands, followed by grasslands; the land use types during the period showed dynamic change characteristics, divided into a continuous phase change phase from 1985 to 2000 and a weak adjustment phase from 2000 to 2020; among them, the most drastic changes were observed from 1995 to 2000, mainly in the transformation of rainfed croplands to grasslands and forest lands. (3) The transformation of rainfed cropland area was the most in the past 35 years, with a cumulative total of 8.74 km², contributing 6.58 km² to grassland, 1.94 km² to closed deciduous broadleaved forest and 0.20 km² to impervious surfaces, while the remaining land use types account for a small proportion and weak transformation; the net land use changes of rainfed cropland, grassland, closed deciduous broadleaved forest and impervious surfaces were the largest. (4) The utilization of individual landslides was diversified year by year, and the increase of grasslands and closed deciduous broadleaves forests enhanced the vegetation cover of the area and reduced the possibility of recurrence of landslides. Land use types and spatial and temporal change patterns of landslides in Tianshui City provided scientific basis for the development, reuse and ecological restoration of disaster-damaged land in the region.