Abstract: Spatial distribution of population in the main urban area of Urumqi City was studied from the perspectives of concentration index,population agglomeration index, population density changs in different spheres, monocentric and polycentric population density simulations, and space reconstruction. This work reveals the characteristics and laws of the population growth and distribution in the main urban area of Urumqi City. The main conclusions are given as follows. 1)The concentration degree of population distribution could be divided into two stages, the rapid growth stage from 1982 to 2000 and the slow growth stage from 2000 to 2010. From the viewpoint of the population agglomeration index, the agglomeration characteristics of population distribution were obvious, and the agglomeration presented a band feature along the main traffic corridor. 2) The population density maintained a centralized regular pattern. 3) Based on the regression of monocentric model, population density models of the main city area were different for the four years. The inverse function model was better for 1982 and 2000 while the cubic function model was fit for 1990 and 2010. Based on the regression of polycentric model, the authors found that a double-center structure appeared in the main city area in 2010. The main center played an important role in affecting the population distribution, and the subcenter was weak in the agglomeration population capacity.

Key words: population distribution, population density, population density simulation, Urumqi