Suzhou in context: Street-network sprawl trends

Suzhou 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
SuzhouAnhui (Region)China (Country)

The chart above shows SNDi trends for new street additions (left panel) and the entire network (right panel), with Suzhou plotted against Anhui and China. The SNDi of new construction in Suzhou peaked in 1976-1990, compared to Anhui which followed a zig-zag trend with an overall increase and China which followed a zig-zag trend with an overall increase. Most recently, Suzhou's incremental SNDi fell from 2.69 to 2.35 between 1991-2005 and 2006-2020. In terms of the aggregate network, Suzhou ranked 28th out of 74 cities in Anhui and 488th out of 1843 in China as of 2020.

New Street Additions (2006–2020)

SNDi value
2.35
Rank in China
426th of 1843
Rank in Anhui
25th of 74

Entire Network (Aggregate)

SNDi value
2.37
Rank in China
488th of 1843
Rank in Anhui
28th of 74

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
SuzhouDighwaraMalegaon

In new street additions, Suzhou built increasingly disconnected streets from 1975 through 1976-1990, then improved, while Dighwara built increasingly disconnected streets from 1975 through 1991-2005, then improved and Malegaon built increasingly disconnected streets over time. For the full network, Suzhou and Dighwara both grew more disconnected from 1975 through 1991-2005, then improved, while Malegaon became progressively more disconnected. Notably, Suzhou had a more sprawly network than Malegaon in 1975 but the two have since reversed their relative ranking.