Penrith in context: Street-network sprawl trends

Penrith in context

2.83.54.24.9<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
2.83.54.24.9<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
PenrithNew South Wales (Region)Australia (Country)

The chart above shows SNDi trends for new street additions (left panel) and the entire network (right panel), with Penrith plotted against New South Wales and Australia. All three follow the same trend in new construction, suggesting a shared regional pattern of development. Most recently, Penrith's incremental SNDi fell from 4.89 to 3.53 between 1991-2005 and 2006-2020. In terms of the aggregate network, Penrith ranked 5th out of 6 cities in New South Wales and 26th out of 35 in Australia as of 2020.

New Street Additions (2006–2020)

SNDi value
3.53
Rank in Australia
20th of 35
Rank in New South Wales
4th of 6

Entire Network (Aggregate)

SNDi value
3.89
Rank in Australia
26th of 35
Rank in New South Wales
5th of 6

Rankings go from most connected to most disconnected — rank 1 is the most connected.

What about similarly populated cities?

2468<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
2468<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
PenrithXinghuaAsh Shamiya

In new street additions, Penrith built increasingly disconnected streets from 1975 through 1991-2005, then improved, while Xinghua built increasingly disconnected streets over time and Ash Shamiya fluctuated in its street-construction patterns. For the full network, Penrith grew more disconnected from 1975 through 1991-2005, then improved, while Xinghua became progressively more disconnected and Ash Shamiya became progressively more connected. Penrith and Xinghua have been growing further apart in their street-network character since 1975.