Zhengzhou in context: Street-network sprawl trends

Zhengzhou in context

33.544.5<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
33.544.5<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
ZhengzhouHenan (Region)China (Country)

The chart above shows SNDi trends for new street additions (left panel) and the entire network (right panel), with Zhengzhou plotted against Henan and China. The SNDi of new construction in Zhengzhou peaked in 1976-1990, compared to Henan which peaked in 1976-1990 and China which followed a zig-zag trend with an overall increase. Most recently, Zhengzhou's incremental SNDi fell from 3.6 to 3.36 between 1991-2005 and 2006-2020. In terms of the aggregate network, Zhengzhou ranked 116th out of 129 cities in Henan and 1292nd out of 1843 in China as of 2020.

New Street Additions (2006–2020)

SNDi value
3.36
Rank in China
1088th of 1843
Rank in Henan
103rd of 129

Entire Network (Aggregate)

SNDi value
3.38
Rank in China
1292nd of 1843
Rank in Henan
116th of 129

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

What about similarly populated cities?

468<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
468<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
ZhengzhouAddis AbabaColombo [Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte]

In new street additions, Zhengzhou built increasingly disconnected streets from 1975 through 1976-1990, then improved, while Addis Ababa fluctuated in its street-construction patterns and Colombo [Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte] built increasingly disconnected streets over time. For the full network, Zhengzhou grew more disconnected from 1975 through 1991-2005, then improved, while Addis Ababa fluctuated in connectivity and Colombo [Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte] became progressively more disconnected. Zhengzhou and Addis Ababa have been growing further apart in their street-network character since 1975.