The Development of Khorgas Port in Xinjiang, China and Its Effect on Surrounding Towns

The sustainable development of border port-cities is of considerable significance to the stabilization and consolidation of border areas, unlike coastal-ports cities that consist of coastal ports and cities. Border ports should continue to drive the development of their surrounding towns to provide high-quality living conditions, employment, and housing for inhabitants of such towns and enhance the population agglomeration capacity of border areas. This study aimed to analyze the structure of employment and settlement in the cities surrounding the Khorgas Port at the different stages of its development—employing semi-structured interviews with individuals to analyze the spatial orientation characteristics of the daily needs of different groups of people and reveal the ways in which border ports drive the development of their surrounding towns—and recommend ways in which this can be improved. This study finds that as the Khorgas Port’s mutual trade market, industrial base, comprehensive management, and other functions continue to grow, the port is becoming increasingly important. As more people work and settl in the surrounding towns, their living needs also increase. However, a considerable number of employed people do not live nearby, and many living needs are not being addressed in the towns surrounding the port. The study also reveals the living services demands of government management personnel who work at the port on weekdays and return to Yining City on weekends, employees of industrial enterprises who work at the port and return home for the New Year’s celebration, and government management personnel and individual business personnel who work at the port and live nearby. In the future, the focus should be on improving the living conditions of the inhabitants of the towns surrounding Khorgas Port, including public services and the settlement ability of employees of industrial enterprises to better realize the radiation drive of the port on the surrounding towns.