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Arid Land Geography ›› 2026, Vol. 49 ›› Issue (5): 1039-1051.doi: 10.12118/j.issn.1000-6060.2025.361

• Urban Geography • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Measurement of spatial conditions for urban-rural integration in Xinjiang from the perspective of “township-county-oasis”

LIU Xiao1,2(), ZHANG Xinhuan1(), CHEN Yang1,2, YAN Hailong3   

  1. 1 Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, Xinjiang, China
    2 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
    3 Institute of Economics, Development and Reform Commission of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Urumqi 830011, Xinjiang, China
  • Received:2025-06-23 Revised:2025-08-25 Online:2026-05-25 Published:2026-05-25
  • Contact: ZHANG Xinhuan E-mail:liuxiao231@mails.ucas.ac.cn;zhangxh@ms.xjb.ac.cn

Abstract:

Urban-rural spatial relations underpin the advancement of the process of urban-rural integration and have a significant influence on the efficiency of factor mobility between urban and rural contexts. Investigating the spatial conditions for urban-rural integration in Xinjiang of China has considerable academic and practical significance in the delineation of the spatial requirements of factor mobility and dismantling the urban-rural dual structure. Guided by the logical framework of spatial connection with urban-rural driving forces as the spatial condition for urban-rural integration and drawing on data from 2022, this study comprehensively uses methodologies such as spatial accessibility analysis and the entropy weighting method to measure the spatial connection, integration driving force, and spatial conditions of urban-rural integration in Xinjiang. In addition, it analyzes the differentiation orientations of the spatial conditions for urban-rural integration by integrating the key characteristics of the oasis units. The results indicate that (1) In the overlapping zones of areas that have high accessibility, townships’ overall spatial connection exhibits strong characteristics, and factor mobility presents a network-based diffusion pattern; counties (cities) with a robust urban driving force demonstrate relatively high levels of urbanization and industrialization, whereas counties (cities) having strong rural supporting force feature a relatively high level of agricultural scale operation. (2) During the formation of spatial conditions for urban-rural integration, urban-rural spatial connection serves as the fundamental prerequisite, while the driving force of urban-rural integration plays a decisive role. Townships with favorable spatial conditions are predominantly distributed across the northern slope of the Tianshan Mountains, the Ili River Valley, the Turpan-Hami Basin, and parts of southern Xinjiang and border-adjacent regions. (3) The differentiation orientations of the spatial conditions for urban-rural integration in oases can be categorized into five types: small oases with a weak center, small oases with a single center, medium-sized oases with a strong center, dual oases with a strong center, and large oases with a multicenter.

Key words: urban-rural integration, spatial conditions, oases, counties, townships, Xinjiang