Spatiotemporal Decoupling of Urban Expansion Intensity and Land Use Efficiency in Arid Oasis Agglomerations

Yan Zhang, Alimujiang Kasimu (), Xue Zhang, Ning Song, Buwajiaergu Shayiti and Xueyun An
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Yan Zhang: School of Geography and Tourism, Xinjiang Normal University, Urumqi 830054, China
Alimujiang Kasimu: School of Geography and Tourism, Xinjiang Normal University, Urumqi 830054, China
Xue Zhang: School of Geography and Tourism, Xinjiang Normal University, Urumqi 830054, China
Ning Song: School of Geography and Tourism, Xinjiang Normal University, Urumqi 830054, China
Buwajiaergu Shayiti: School of Geography and Tourism, Xinjiang Normal University, Urumqi 830054, China
Xueyun An: School of Geography and Tourism, Xinjiang Normal University, Urumqi 830054, China

Land, 2025, vol. 14, issue 11, 1-20

Abstract: Rapid and uncoordinated urban expansion in arid oasis city clusters intensifies land use conflicts and ecological pressure, threatening regional sustainability. This study investigates the Urban Agglomeration on the Northern Slopes of the Tianshan Mountains (UANSTM) in Xinjiang, northwestern China—an arid region urban cluster. A multi-source spatial data framework was established to delineate urban built-up areas and to construct land use efficiency (LUE) indicators, thereby facilitating an integrated analysis of the spatial coupling between urban expansion intensity (UEI) and LUE from 2000 to 2020. The results indicate that: (1) The urban built-up area expanded from 322 km 2 to 1096 km 2 , shifting northward and northwestward, producing fragmented and decentralized patterns; (2) LUE improved but exhibited clear spatial disparities. Core cities like Urumqi showed strong synergy between rapid expansion and rising efficiency, whereas peripheral cities such as Wusu expanded quickly without corresponding efficiency gains, reflecting evident trade-offs; (3) The relationship between UEI and LUE exhibited a nonlinear evolution—trade-offs dominated during 2000–2005, synergy strengthened from 2005 to 2015, and trade-offs resurged again after 2015.These findings reveal the cyclical vulnerability of arid region urbanization and highlight the effectiveness of the proposed framework for diagnosing spatial mismatches and guiding compact, efficiency-oriented urban development toward long-term sustainability.

Keywords: land use efficiency; urban expansion intensity; trade-off and synergy; arid zone oasis city clusters (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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