Shexian in context: Street-network sprawl trends

Shexian 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
ShexianAnhui (Region)China (Country)

The chart above shows SNDi trends for new street additions (left panel) and the entire network (right panel), with Shexian plotted against Anhui and China. All three follow the same trend in new construction, suggesting a shared regional pattern of development. Most recently, Shexian's incremental SNDi rose from 3.01 to 3.14 between 1991-2005 and 2006-2020. In terms of the aggregate network, Shexian ranked 49th out of 74 cities in Anhui and 958th out of 1843 in China as of 2020.

New Street Additions (2006–2020)

SNDi value
3.14
Rank in China
967th of 1843
Rank in Anhui
52nd of 74

Entire Network (Aggregate)

SNDi value
2.92
Rank in China
958th of 1843
Rank in Anhui
49th of 74

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

What about similarly populated cities?

234567<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
234567<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
ShexianUnguwar MahaukciBalichak

In new street additions, Shexian fluctuated in its street-construction patterns, while Unguwar Mahaukci fluctuated in its street-construction patterns and Balichak built increasingly disconnected streets over time. For the full network, Shexian and Balichak both became progressively more disconnected, while Unguwar Mahaukci became more connected from 1975 through 1991-2005, then grew more sprawly from 1991-2005 onwards. Notably, Shexian had a more connected network than Unguwar Mahaukci in 1975 but the two have since reversed their relative ranking.