Copiapó 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 Copiapó plotted against Atacama and Chile. All three follow the same trend in new construction, suggesting a shared regional pattern of development. Most recently, Copiapó's incremental SNDi rose from 2.33 to 3.02 between 1991-2005 and 2006-2020. In terms of the aggregate network, Copiapó ranked 1st out of 1 cities in Atacama and 13th 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?

• Dangyang, China
• Mannarkkad, India
• Khatauli, India
• Zhong, China
• Yangzhong, China
• Divo, Côte d'Ivoire

In new street additions, Copiapó and Dangyang both fluctuated in its street-construction patterns, while Zhong built increasingly connected streets from 1975 through 1991-2005, then shifted to more disconnected patterns. For the full network, Copiapó and Dangyang both fluctuated in connectivity, while Zhong became more connected from 1975 through 1991-2005, then grew more sprawly from 1991-2005 onwards. Notably, Copiapó had a more sprawly network than Dangyang in 1975 but the two have since reversed their relative ranking.