Abstract: The current rapid development of urbanization in China has directly and seriously affected farmlands distribution in its para-urbanized neighboring/adjacent regions, and also posed severe stresses on safety of these land. It is, therefore, essential to build up a comprehensive urbanization and farmland safety assessment indicator system, work out quantitatively urbanization index and farmland safety stress index, and analyze quantitatively neighboring coupling relations between urbanization and arable land safety based on the decoupling theory and method. A case study was conducted of Lianyungang City of Jiangsu Province to explore quantitatively coupling-decoupling relationship between urbanization and farmland safety and response of farmland safety to the progress of urbanization during the period from 2000 to 2014. Results show that during the study period, urbanization index of Lianyungang City increased steadily, while farmland safety stress index fluctuated with a declining trend. Their relationship displayed a wavy trend from 2000 to 2007, i.e. strong decoupling-weak decoupling-expanding negative decoupling-expanding connection and a strong fluctuation curve from 2008 to 2014, including strong decoupling during 2008-2012 and expanding negative decoupling in 2013, which reflects strong impacts of the implementation of the regional development, land use and city overall programs on this typical neighboring/adjacent coupling system. During the study period, Lianyungang City made a huge and steady progress in urbanization, while reducing fluctuation of its stress on farmland safety. Though the two posed a strong decoupling relationship, the problem of uncertainty reflected in the huge fluctuation of the result of the neighboring/adjacent decoupling calls for high attention, and the influence urbanization had on farmland safety needs to be weighed prudently. Compared to the macroscopic single indicator models used in the past, the multi-index decoupling-coupling model built for the neighboring coupling relationship is more comprehensive and capable of analyzing the complex relationship between rapid urbanization and protection of farmland safety in a more holistic and finer way. Furthermore, it may provide theoretical support to landscape safety assessment of para-urbanizd regions and to decision-making on harmonized development of both urbanization and protection of farmland.