Datong in context: Street-network sprawl trends

Datong 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
DatongShanxi (Region)China (Country)

The chart above shows SNDi trends for new street additions (left panel) and the entire network (right panel), with Datong plotted against Shanxi and China. The SNDi of new construction in Datong peaked in 1976-1990, compared to Shanxi which followed a zig-zag trend with an overall increase and China which followed a zig-zag trend with an overall increase. Most recently, Datong's incremental SNDi fell from 2.83 to 2.25 between 1991-2005 and 2006-2020. In terms of the aggregate network, Datong ranked 28th out of 80 cities in Shanxi as of 2020.

New Street Additions (2006–2020)

SNDi value
2.25
Rank in Shanxi
19th of 80

Entire Network (Aggregate)

SNDi value
2.72
Rank in Shanxi
28th of 80

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

What about similarly populated cities?

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
DatongBeniChhatrapati Sambhajinagar

In new street additions, Datong built increasingly disconnected streets from 1975 through 1976-1990, then improved, while Beni fluctuated in its street-construction patterns and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar built increasingly disconnected streets over time. Looking at the full network, Beni and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar both became progressively more disconnected, while Datong grew more disconnected from 1975 through 1976-1990, then improved. Notably, Datong had a more sprawly network than Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar in 1975 but the two have since reversed their relative ranking.