Urbanization drives global changes in land cover, biogeochemical cycles, climate, and ecosystems, with changes in urban environments considered as "detectors" of future global changes. Urban vegetation serves as a reliable indicator of the urban ecological environment. However, the irreversible and rapid development of global urbanization has significantly impacted urban vegetation growth. The growth status of urban vegetation reflects the stability of regional ecological environments. Distinguishing between the direct and indirect impacts of urbanization on vegetation and conducting quantitative regional analysis are crucial for a deeper understanding of the mechanisms by which urbanization affects vegetation growth and for promoting regional green sustainable development. To better understand the relationship between regional urbanization and vegetation growth, this study focuses on Guangdong Province. Using data from the MODIS13A1 product, including Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) and impervious surface data, and employing methods such as slope trend analysis and correlation analysis, the study quantifies the direct and indirect impacts of urbanization on vegetation growth in Guangdong Province from 2000 to 2018. The research findings are as follows: (1) Overall, vegetation growth in Guangdong Province remained relatively stable and showed enhancement over time from 2000 to 2018. Regions with decreased EVI were mainly concentrated in areas with urban impervious surfaces, indicating a negative impact of urbanization-induced pavement hardening on vegetation growth. (2) There was a significant negative correlation between vegetation index and urbanization intensity in Guangdong Province, with a well-fitted cubic regression curve. Besides negative direct impacts, both negative and positive indirect impacts exist during urbanization. Notably, the positive indirect impacts of urbanization on vegetation growth are strengthened as urban development compensates for negative direct impacts. (3) The proportion of indirect impacts showed a trend of decrease-rise-decrease with the increase of urbanization intensity, with turning points at β≈0.2 and β≈0.9. When urbanization intensity reached approximately 0.7, indirect impacts shifted from negative to positive, and the proportion of positive indirect impacts reached its maximum when urbanization intensity was about 0.9. This study contributes to a deep understanding of the growth of urban vegetation in Guangdong Province and the impact of urban environments on vegetation growth. It provides important data accumulation and scientific basis for the sustainable development of urban ecosystems in Guangdong Province. The aim is to maximize the positive indirect impacts of urbanization on vegetation growth, promote long-term vegetation growth, alleviate environmental pressure caused by increasing impervious surfaces during urbanization, achieve coordinated land use and vegetation coverage in urban areas, and ultimately realize the green sustainable development of regional cities.