Wollongong in context: Street-network sprawl trends

Wollongong in context

34567<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
34567<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
WollongongNew South Wales (Region)Australia (Country)

The chart above shows SNDi trends for new street additions (left panel) and the entire network (right panel), with Wollongong 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, Wollongong's incremental SNDi fell from 7.03 to 5.06 between 1991-2005 and 2006-2020. In terms of the aggregate network, Wollongong ranked 3rd out of 6 cities in New South Wales and 15th out of 35 in Australia as of 2020.

New Street Additions (2006–2020)

SNDi value
5.06
Rank in Australia
33rd of 35
Rank in New South Wales
6th of 6

Entire Network (Aggregate)

SNDi value
3.47
Rank in Australia
15th of 35
Rank in New South Wales
3rd of 6

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

What about similarly populated cities?

246<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
246<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
WollongongYakeshi/YaysiTongnan

In new street additions, Wollongong and Yakeshi/Yaysi both built increasingly disconnected streets from 1975 through 1991-2005, then improved, while Tongnan fluctuated in its street-construction patterns. For the full network, Wollongong became progressively more disconnected, while Yakeshi/Yaysi grew more disconnected from 1975 through 1991-2005, then improved and Tongnan grew more disconnected from 1975 through 1976-1990, then improved. Wollongong and Yakeshi/Yaysi have been growing further apart in their street-network character since 1975.