Study on Urbanization Sustainability of Xinjiang in China: Connotation, Indicators and Measurement

BACKGROUND: Current research about sustainability evaluations in urbanization pays limited attention to certain areas of the world, thus potentially leading to an incomplete portrayal of the rich connotation of sustainable development. In fact, the existing evaluation criteria used by researchers in this field may not be generalizable due to regional variations. This study evaluated urbanization sustainability in Xinjiang Province (China) taking into account different perspectives, such as security and stability, social integration, economic vitality, happiness and livability, and ecological health. The aim was to develop an urbanization sustainability evaluation system, resulting in a new Index customized to regional characteristics and local development needs. METHODS: A spatial clustering analysis methodology was adopted to reveal the prominence of 15 issues in different areas of Xinjiang. RESULTS: Overall, the results showed low urbanization sustainability in Xinjiang, with significant intra-regional variability. The dimensions of security and stability scored the lowest in the newly developed Index, indicating specific aspects of weakness in Xinjiang’s urbanization sustainability. Social integration scored highly in the new index, implying that this aspect plays a supporting role in the urbanization sustainability of the region. Nevertheless, economic vitality scored low, representing a limitation for the region’s urbanization sustainability, as well as the happiness and livability dimensions. On the contrary, the parameter of ecological health scored high, despite spatial variances. Urbanization sustainability within each prefecture was further categorized as high, balanced, or low, revealing the main challenges faced by each prefecture during urbanization. CONCLUSIONS: The purpose of this study was to divert attention to the urbanization sustainability in different regions of the world, considering their particularity and diversity, thereby providing a research paradigm for scientific evaluation of urbanization sustainability.