To analyze the variation of vegetation growth and further explore the reasons for these changes in Hubei Province, we extracted landscape type information of Hubei Province in 2005, 2010, and 2015 using Landsat data, and analyzed the spatial and temporal evolution characteristic of landscape patterns. Based on the MODIS NDVI data in the summers of 2005 to 2015, the characteristics of spatial and temporal variation in NDVI and its significance were explored by using unitary linear regression analysis, Theil-Sen median trend analysis, and Mann-Kendall test. The relationship between NDVI and climatic factors (temperature and precipitation) was explored using the least squares method. The relationship between NDVI and human economic activities was also examined based on DMSP/OLS and NPP-VIIRS night-time light data. The results concluded that cultivated land and construction land were the landscape types that varied most in the study area between 2005 and 2015. The area of cultivated land continued to decline, and most of the area lost was transferred into construction land. The area of construction land continued to increase, and most of this increase was transferred from cultivated land and woodland, which were distributed in Wuhan City, Jingzhou City, and Xiangyang City. The NDVI value of the study area was generally high in the west and low in the east. The areas with higher NDVI values such as Shiyan and Enshi had woodland as the major landscape type. The areas with lower NDVI values such as Wuhan, Xiangyang, and Jingzhou, had construction land as the major landscape type. The overall variation of NDVI showed a slight improvement trend in Hubei Province. There was also an obvious declining trend for NDVI variation in some areas. The NDVI in the northwestern and western parts of Hubei Province increased slightly, and the vegetation in the Wuhan city showed a degrading trend. The correlation between NDVI and climatic factors (temperature and precipitation) was weak, which indicated that climatic factors are not the dominant factor causing NDVI variation. There was a significant negative correlation between NDVI and night-time light value, with a correlation coefficient of r=-0.8030. Overall, human economic activities were negatively correlated with NDVI, which also showed partitioning characteristics. Human economic activities have inhibited NDVI in areas where construction land is dominant such as Wuhan and Xiangyang, while NDVI is promoted in areas where woodland is dominant such as Enshi and Shiyan. Human economic activities were the key driving force for landscape pattern and vegetation variation in the study area. Urban expansion was the main reason for the spatial and temporal variations of vegetation in Hubei Province.