Abstract: Urban safety is an important issue faced by countries worldwide. The urban safety in China exhibits new characteristics and demands in terms of risk source, risk exposure and disaster mitigation capacity given the distinctive urbanization process. To this end, this study generalizes a new concept of 'mitigation force' and proposes the theoretical framework of 'risk source-risk exposure-mitigation force' for urban safety. Taking into account the new characteristics and demands of urban safety, the scientific connotations, classifications, and interrelationships of the three components (i.e., risk source, risk exposure, and mitigation force) in the proposed framework are systematically determined. This framework can provide specialized foundational theoretical guidance and scientific paradigms for advancing urban safety research, promote the improvement of urban safety governance system and help improve urban safety levels.