Abstract: The temporal and spatial pattern evolution characteristics and the influencing factors of urbanization at county level in Xinjiang since 2000 were analyzed using the methods including variation coefficient, multivariate regression, and geographical detector technique. The main conclusions are given as follows. 1) The urbanization rate in Xinjiang's counties continually increased with an average annual growth rate of 0.89%, and 40.96% of the counties had average annual growth rates of 0-0.5%. 2) There was a great change in the spatial distribution pattern of county urbanization, and that was the change from the planar distribution pattern of the initial urbanization stage in 2000 into the centralized-interlaced distribution pattern of the initial and middle urbanization stages in 2015. 3) The economic development level, employment structure, public service level, and geographical location have significant impacts on the spatial differentiation of urbanization. The development of market economy and the transformation of employment structure were important factors driving the rapid development of urbanization. The driving force for urbanization development from the government-led top-down policies and measures decreased gradually. At the present, urbanization development is mainly affected by multiple factors such as employment ability, income level, population concentration, and public basic services.

Key words: urbanization, county, influencing factor, geographical detector technique, Xinjiang