There’s an interesting piece on urbanisation in Xinjiang by Wade Shepard at The Diplomat (in which I am quoted). He writes about Horgos, the  border town near Yining, where I used to live, and the speed with which Horgos is being transformed into a municipality. In general terms, it seems that the development of this much vaunted New Silk Road is centered around the north of Xinjiang, and thus runs the risk of further widening the economic gap between it and the south of the region (which is where most Uyghurs live).