Calama in context: Street-network sprawl trends

The chart above shows SNDi trends for new street additions (left panel) and the entire network (right panel), with Calama plotted against Antofagasta and Chile. The SNDi of new construction in Calama was at its lowest in 1976-1990, compared to Antofagasta which followed a zig-zag trend with an overall increase and Chile which followed a zig-zag trend with an overall increase. Most recently, Calama's incremental SNDi rose from 1.89 to 2.39 between 1991-2005 and 2006-2020. In terms of the aggregate network, Calama ranked 2nd out of 2 cities in Antofagasta and 2nd out of 38 in Chile as of 2020.

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

What about similarly populated cities?

• Karaman, Turkey
• Palani, India
• Zhilkino, Russia
• Gashua, Nigeria
• Bima, Indonesia
• Asosa, Ethiopia

While Karaman and Gashua both fluctuated in its street-construction patterns, Calama built increasingly connected streets from 1975 through 1976-1990, then shifted to more disconnected patterns in new street additions. Looking at the full network, Karaman and Gashua both fluctuated in connectivity, while Calama became more connected from 1975 through 1991-2005, then grew more sprawly from 1991-2005 onwards.