Regional economic differences of Xinjiang based on gravity theory

In this study, we took a spatial visualization approach instead of a numeric indicator to describe the spatial inequality of development in Xinjiang. Spatial mean in geo-statistics was used as a measurement of spatial equality. The values of spatial mean for GDP level were plotted on the map by Geographic Information System of prefecture level data. We can see clearly that: (1) The economic gravity centers mainly distributes in the northeast of geographic gravity center. The distance between economic gravity center and geographic gravity center shows an increasing tendency. (2) The moving route of economic gravity center unfolds its 'S' state from 1978 to 2007. The variation of distance in latitudinal direction is mostly bigger than in longitudinal direction. (3) The shift movement is closely correlated with policies of regional economic development, and the shift of economic gravity center is obviously staged and regular under different policies. ©2009 IEEE. (14 refs.