Halifax in context: Street-network sprawl trends

Halifax in context

2.433.64.2<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
2.433.64.2<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
HalifaxNova Scotia (Region)Canada (Country)

The chart above shows SNDi trends for new street additions (left panel) and the entire network (right panel), with Halifax plotted against Nova Scotia and Canada. The SNDi of new construction in Halifax followed a zig-zag trend with an overall increase, compared to Nova Scotia which rose steadily and Canada which peaked in 1976-1990. Most recently, Halifax's incremental SNDi rose from 3.14 to 3.36 between 1991-2005 and 2006-2020. In terms of the aggregate network, Halifax ranked 1st out of 1 cities in Nova Scotia and 26th out of 54 in Canada as of 2020.

New Street Additions (2006–2020)

SNDi value
3.36
Rank in Canada
30th of 54
Rank in Nova Scotia
1st of 1

Entire Network (Aggregate)

SNDi value
2.73
Rank in Canada
26th of 54
Rank in Nova Scotia
1st of 1

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

What about similarly populated cities?

2.43.244.8<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
2.43.244.8<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
HalifaxAgborParoo

In new street additions, Halifax fluctuated in its street-construction patterns, while Agbor built increasingly disconnected streets over time and Paroo fluctuated in its street-construction patterns. For the full network, Halifax and Agbor both became progressively more disconnected, while Paroo fluctuated in connectivity. Notably, Halifax had a more sprawly network than Agbor in 1975 but the two have since reversed their relative ranking.