Gaochang in context: Street-network sprawl trends

Gaochang in context

2.433.64.2<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
2.433.64.2<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
GaochangXinjiang Uygur (Region)China (Country)

The chart above shows SNDi trends for new street additions (left panel) and the entire network (right panel), with Gaochang plotted against Xinjiang Uygur and China. All three follow the same trend in new construction, suggesting a shared regional pattern of development. Most recently, Gaochang's incremental SNDi rose from 2.51 to 3.48 between 1991-2005 and 2006-2020. In terms of the aggregate network, Gaochang ranked 14th out of 31 cities in Xinjiang Uygur and 646th out of 1843 in China as of 2020.

New Street Additions (2006–2020)

SNDi value
3.48
Rank in China
1141st of 1843
Rank in Xinjiang Uygur
26th of 31

Entire Network (Aggregate)

SNDi value
2.57
Rank in China
646th of 1843
Rank in Xinjiang Uygur
14th of 31

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

What about similarly populated cities?

2468<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
2468<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
GaochangLuoyuanSirvan

In new street additions, Gaochang and Luoyuan both fluctuated in its street-construction patterns, while Şirvan built increasingly connected streets over time. For the full network, Gaochang fluctuated in connectivity, while Luoyuan became progressively more disconnected and Şirvan became progressively more connected. Notably, Gaochang had a more sprawly network than Luoyuan in 1975 but the two have since reversed their relative ranking.