Evaluating Urban Expansion and Evaluating Urban Expansion and Spatial Characteristics in UrumqiSpatial Characteristics in Urumqi

Wen Dong, Xiaolei Zhang Wen Dong, Xiaolei Zhang

Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography ,Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography ,

Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS)Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS)

14 May 200714 May 2007

Lecture’s Structure:

Data sources General situation Speed of urban expansion Spatial differentiation Direction of the urban expansion Future development

MSS image in 1975

Landsat TM images (1990, 2000, 2006)

Land use map in Urumqi

Data sources

Geographical location of Urumqi

Area ： 10900.773 km2 Population: 2.02 millionGDP ： 654.3 billionDistrict ： 7

General situation

Urumqi’s main economic indexes, such as the per capita GDP, financial income, total turnover of social consumer goods and per capita disposable income, are at the forefront of the 10 largest cities in west China. Per capita GDP of Urumqi in 2006 was 32,401 RMB, which was the highest in 5 capital cities in western China.

General situation of oasis city—Urumqi

Speed of urban expansion

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1949 1975 1990 1998 2002 2004Year

Area

/km2

Area

During the period from 1949 to 2006, the built-up area was enlarged from 12.4 km2 to about 200 km2, the average annual expansion rate was about 5% .

Speed of urban expansion

1949-1965

Spatial differentiation :1949-1965

Urban expansion occurred mainly in the old districts, such as Tianshan District and Shayibake District.The city expanded along the newly-built highway, and urban expansion demonstrated the obvious axial of north and south.

Urban expansion was slow during this period. It occurred mainly around Tianshan District and Sayibake District and along the main roads, and the expansion was not so significant.

Spatial differentiation :1965-1975

Urban expansion was significantly accelerated during the period 1975-1990. The pattern of urban expansion during this period was dominated by south-north zonal expansion and supplemented by east-west axial expansion.

Spatial differentiation :1975-1990

The speed and scale of urban expansion in Urumqi during this period were much lower than that in the previous period.

Spatial differentiation :1990-2006

Affected by policies regarding conserving

cultivated lands and compensated land use,

urban expansion was dominated by internal

construction and reconstruction based on the

early planned framework, except for the

expansion around all downtown areas and along

traffic lines, and outward expansion was slow.

Spatial differentiation :1990-2006

With the rapid development of economy and population,

the lack of land resources already became a barrier to

the development of Urumqi.

How to deal with this problem has become urgent for

Urumqi’s future development.

Direction of the urban expansion

Landsat TM image in 2006

Recently, the municipal government established Changhe new district and Miquan city had already turn over to Urumqi in 2007.

The essence of these proposal is to utilize the location advantage of Urumqi to spur the regional economy growth on and solve the lack of land resources.

It offered a powerful policy foundation for the operation and planning of a predominantly urban region and made it possible to establish an effective development control system.

Direction of the urban expansion

The urban expansion of Urumqi has greatly driven the development of the peripheral cities, which will make the network system of the regional urbanization more complicated.

Along with the rapid economic development, the relatively simple economic structure in Urumqi is changing into a complex one. Thus, the urban expansion of Urumqi may become more comprehensive and extensive.

The connection between Urumqi and other regions may sharply increase, and the new extended urban areas will develop in the direction of north, northwest, and southeast along the outward traffic lines.

Future development

Thanks for your attention!Thanks for your attention!