干旱区生态环境知识资源中心

Based on the analysis of historical. statistical yearbook and field survey materials, this paper draws some conclusions on the trend of land use change and its impact on the environment of Urumqi City in Xinjiang Uigur Autonomous Region. The results indicated that, during the period 1988 to 2004, the land-use structure of Urumqi changed dramatically. For instance, the orchards area and construction land area have been increased by 128. 9%, and 206. 4% respectively, and the farmland area and unused land area decreased by 6.6% and 1.3%. The land use intensity increased significantly both in the agricultural and construction land. Such an intensive land use/cover change has caused many serious environmental problems, including intensive soil erosion, increasing deterioration of water quality, biodiversity loss, serious air pollution and frequent occurrence of geological disasters. However, the eco-environmental quality of unused land in some region has been improved by replacing with rationally develop land with high ecological value. On the basis of our analysis, we proposed some suggestions to Urumqi which is rapidly developing, for its harmonious development between the environment and human society: 1) de-emphasis extensive expansion and focus on decentralized model. 2) to alleviate the contradiction between construction land and green spaces, orchards and farmland should be protected as urban green space. 3) the afforestation of bare hills should be continued.