【Objective】This study aims to find the response and sensitivity of multiple tree species in urban forests to drought under diverse habitat conditions and provides a reference basis for rapid screening of adaptive tree species with high drought tolerance and healthy growth. 【Method】The measurement of annual shoot lengths (ASL) of 24 tree species with different age (early-young, young, and mature) in diverse habitats (closed forest, open forest, and avenue tree) between 2005 and 2020 was conducted, and the calculation of the relative ASL increase (RAI, the ratio of the ASL increase between before and after drought to the non-drought period) was used to indicate trees’ growth sensitivity in response to drought stress. 【Result】1) Trees’ ASL was decreasing consistently with age, and the early-young trees growing in the shaded forests and young trees in the open stands showed relatively higher ASL values than the mature trees planted along the avenues. 2) The correlation between the ASLs and the standardized precipitation indices of the present-year and the previous-year was significantly strong (r²=0.687, P<0.01), Fraxinus excelsior and Quercus robur in the shaded forest, as well as F. excelsior and Q. robur in the open forests, were found to be nonsensitive to drought, but the other 14 tree species were drought-sensitive. 3) The mean value and minimum of the leaf water potential at the turgor loss point significantly correlated with each other （r²=0.549， P<0.01）, but did not correlate to growth sensitivity. 4) Xylem structure significantly correlated with RAI （r=0.553，P<0.01）and growth sensitivity（r=0.545， P<0.01）, and the ASL performance of the ring-porous species was better than semi-ring-porous species and diffuse-porous species. 【Conclusion】 Although the responses of tree annual shoot growth to drought were affected by multiply interior and external factors, ASL measurement was recommended to be an easy, fast and effective method to assess tree growth vitality and adaptability in response to their habitats, this method was also helpful to select urban tree species with high tolerance under climate change impacts.