Abstract: Based on the fourth, fifth and sixth population census data of China, econometrics method and the case of Guangxi on county scale, this paper analyzes the spatiotemporal evolution and driving forces of urbanization and migration. The results are as follows: 1) The county urbanization rate of border province has witnessed rapid growth and its gap with country’s average level becomes narrowed, but the rates in most of the counties are still below the national mean. The spatial distribution among counties shows a trend of imbalanced development of urbanization. The distribution of center municipal districts, which have higher urbanization level and play diffusion role, is dispersal. Those areas opening to the outside world earlier, such as the Beibu Gulf region, and the east and southeast of Guangxi adjacent to Guangdong, a developed province, have higher urbanization level than the west and north of Guangxi. 2) The population migration at county level in border province shows a strong trend of spatial autocorrelation, and the degree of spatial autocorrelation agglomeration increased from 2000 to 2010, but the spatial pattern remained stable during the study period. Migration flow and urbanization pattern are basically consistent and their high value regions are both concentrated in the southeastern Guangxi and the Beibu Gulf area. 3) There are three kinds of boundaries which influence the migration in Guangxi, i.e., national boundary, coast line and provincial border. The latter two types of boundaries play a significant role in “attracting” immigration and the development of urbanization and agglomeration along with them, while the national boundary is still having some shield or barrier effects on people movement. 4) From the perspective of immigration destination choosing, as for the spatial pattern of migration, service industries are becoming the main forces absorbing population to move-in. Free trade arrangements, business service, and passages or ports construction along the borders and “One Belt One Road Initiatives” are the main driving forces reshaping border geography in Southwest of China.

Key words: border region, urbanization, migration, spatiotemporal pattern, Guangxi