Belo Horizonte in context: Street-network sprawl trends

Belo Horizonte in context

2.12.83.54.2<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
2.12.83.54.2<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
Belo HorizonteMinas Gerais (Region)Brazil (Country)

The chart above shows SNDi trends for new street additions (left panel) and the entire network (right panel), with Belo Horizonte plotted against Minas Gerais and Brazil. The SNDi of new construction in Belo Horizonte rose steadily, compared to Minas Gerais which followed a zig-zag trend with an overall increase and Brazil which followed a zig-zag trend with an overall increase. Most recently, Belo Horizonte's incremental SNDi rose from 3.3 to 4.34 between 1991-2005 and 2006-2020. In terms of the aggregate network, Belo Horizonte ranked 25th out of 49 cities in Minas Gerais and 206th out of 365 in Brazil as of 2020.

New Street Additions (2006–2020)

SNDi value
4.34
Rank in Brazil
278th of 365
Rank in Minas Gerais
42nd of 49

Entire Network (Aggregate)

SNDi value
2.46
Rank in Brazil
206th of 365
Rank in Minas Gerais
25th of 49

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

What about similarly populated cities?

2345<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
2345<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
Belo HorizonteOnitshaIslamabad

In new street additions, Belo Horizonte built increasingly disconnected streets over time, while Onitsha built increasingly disconnected streets from 1975 through 1976-1990, then improved and Islamabad fluctuated in its street-construction patterns. For the full street network, though, all three cities follow the same trend. Belo Horizonte and Islamabad have been growing further apart in their street-network character since 1975.