Abstract: Appropriate planning of the spatial layout for permanent essential farmlands in a municipality not only contributes to the sustainable economic development but also warrants adequate ecological protection for the community. This article presents a proposal for the areas around Fuzhou. The multi-factor comprehensive evaluation method and the nuclear density model were applied to analyze the spatial distribution characteristics of the essential farmlands with respect to land quality, spatial form, ecology and spatial planning. Under the proposal, the overall evaluation indicator ranges between 70.48 and 98.20. The Grade I to Grade IV in the region account for 60.18%, 8.72%, 7.14%, 20.54% and 3.43%, respectively, of the total farmland. The proposed spatial arrangement for the farmlands makes the distribution sparse in the central and the northern, while dense in the outskirt and the southern, areas around the city.