The lateral displacement function of the gravity retaining wall was normalized through several excavations in Shanghai.The simplified formula of lateral deformation of gravity retaining wall was deduced through principle of minimum potential energy.Meanwhile,factors that affect deformation of gravity retaining wall were also analyzed.The simplified formula was adopted to calculate the lateral displacements of gravity retaining walls of ten excavations.The average relative error between the calculated results and the measured results is 13.5%,which proves that the method is suitable for calculating lateral displacement of gravity retaining wall.