The Qinba Mountain area is an important area for biodiversity protection and water conservation in China, and also an important water source for the South-to-North Water Transfer Project. Mountains and rivers are intertwined in this region, and the hydrological process is closely related to the mountainous environment, showing a typical trend of basin development. This study analyzed the current situation and existing problems in the urban and rural space development in this region, and elaborated the necessity of basin development. Meanwhile, we defined the basin order framework and five-level basin division in the Qinba Mountain Area, from the perspective of basin analysis and based on the delineation of multi-scale basin basement. The urban and rural space development strategy in the Qinba Mountain Area is proposed, namely an urban and rural structure based on basin ecology management and control, an urban and rural pattern guided by green transformation of basins, and collaborative management and control centering on interactive development of basins. The results show that basin is a typical ecological unit in the Qinba Mountain Area and is highly coupled with the urban and rural space development. Urban and rural space planning and institutional control based on basins is conductive to the green development of the Qinba Mountain Area.