São Luís in context: Street-network sprawl trends

Sao Luis in context

2.42.83.23.6<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
2.42.83.23.6<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
Sao LuisMaranhao (Region)Brazil (Country)

The chart above shows SNDi trends for new street additions (left panel) and the entire network (right panel), with São Luís plotted against Maranhão and Brazil. All three follow the same trend in new construction, suggesting a shared regional pattern of development. Most recently, São Luís's incremental SNDi rose from 2.97 to 3.45 between 1991-2005 and 2006-2020. In terms of the aggregate network, São Luís ranked 10th out of 11 cities in Maranhão and 247th out of 365 in Brazil as of 2020.

New Street Additions (2006–2020)

SNDi value
3.45
Rank in Brazil
209th of 365
Rank in Maranhão
11th of 11

Entire Network (Aggregate)

SNDi value
2.8
Rank in Brazil
247th of 365
Rank in Maranhão
10th of 11

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

What about similarly populated cities?

23456<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
23456<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
Sao LuisCalgaryTegucigalpa

In new street additions, São Luís and Tegucigalpa both fluctuated in its street-construction patterns, while Calgary built increasingly disconnected streets from 1975 through 1991-2005, then improved. For the full street network, though, all three cities follow the same trend.