Spatial development and land use of river basin promote the economic and social development, at the same time cause severe impact on the health and safety of the ecosystem. It's urgent to enrich the comprehensive management of river basin with the zoning and governance of land use, which is also an important and scientific issue to promote the research of interaction between lake and basin. On the basis of review of researches on zoning and governance of land use, the paper started from the requirements that natural geographical unit of river basin is special and the management target is complicated, discussed the interaction mechanism between land and water systems of river basin, and analyzed the research priorities and basic ideas of land use zoning and space governance, then proposed technology roadmap and key methods of land use zoning of river basin. Moreover, the paper made preliminary practical exploration in Taihu Basin, and proposed four type areas of strictly protected area, moderately development area, development and utilization area, development reserved area and space governance requirements, which is in line with resource and environment of river basin, as well as economic and social development, at the same time provides guide for sustainable development and protection of river basin. Finally, the paper discussed the future research emphasis and key issues of land use zoning and space governance of river basin.