In this paper,the oasis cities in Kashgar Prefecture and Kizilsu Kirgiz Autonomous Prefecture are taken as an example,through the factor analysis,spatial attraction interaction model and location quotient methods,urban hierarchy system,the intensity of urban economic ties,economic subordination degree,and structure of city functions were analyzed. The results indicated:(1) The urban hierarchy system takes Kashgar city as the main center,Artux city,Yarkant county and Maralbexi county as the sub-centers; (2) The intensity of economic ties among Kashgar city and each county is much higher than others. The interaction of Kashgar city,Shufu county and Shule county are the strongest,and the economic ties of Yarkant,Kagilik,Poskam counties are relatively close; All cities in the study area are economically subordinate to Kashgar city. (3) Three cities of Kashgar city,Shufu county and Shule county should connect strongly,with Kashgar city as the core. The cities and towns along the Southern Xinjiang Railway and along National Road 315 should be regarded as two strips,and the two city strips along the border,and the city strip along Provincial Road 215 should be treated as three axes. The ring structure strategy of 'core ring,closer ring and radiated ring' was proposed. (4) It was proposed to build Kashgar city group in the north,and Yarkant city group in the south,Maralbexi city group in the southeast,and Taxkorgan border city group with four inner groups’ development strategy.
Urban development in arid and semi-arid regions is largely constrained by fragile physical environ- ments. The characteristics of an urban settlement are different from those in other regions of China. This paper analyses the coupling characteristics and spatio-temporal variations for oasis urban development and water-land resources at the northern slopes of the Tianshan Mountains by principal component analysis and a coupling degree model. The result shows that the degree and change in regional use of water and land resources are different among the studied cities/counties during their development. The built-up areas of these cities/counties have changed little with increasing populations and urbanization levels, which well reflects that the urban development in arid and semi-arid regions is limited by oasis areas. Per capita amount of water supplied, however, presented a trend of slowed growth with increasing levels of urbanization. Water consumption gradually increased with urban development and the improvement of people＇s living standards, accompanied by enhanced water use efficiency. The level of urbanization can be assessed through the coupling degree between oasis urban development and the use of water and land resources. A high coupling degree represents a high level of comprehensive urban devel- opment and use of water-land resources. Alternatively, a low coupling degree denotes a low level of urban devel- opment and water-land resource use.
