Kitenge in context: Street-network sprawl trends

The chart above shows SNDi trends for new street additions (left panel) and the entire network (right panel), with Kitenge plotted against Haut-Lomami and Democratic Republic of the Congo. The SNDi of new construction in Kitenge peaked in 1991-2005, compared to Haut-Lomami which rose steadily and Democratic Republic of the Congo which followed a zig-zag trend with an overall increase. Most recently, Kitenge's incremental SNDi fell from 11.65 to 2.95 between 1991-2005 and 2006-2020. In terms of the aggregate network, Kitenge ranked 12th out of 17 cities in Haut-Lomami and 90th out of 186 in Democratic Republic of the Congo as of 2020.

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

What about similarly populated cities?

• Caála, Angola
• Kasulu, Tanzania
• Sonagar, India
• Shubra Khit, Egypt
• Khatīma, India
• KwaNobuhle, South Africa

In new street additions, Kitenge built increasingly disconnected streets from 1975 through 1991-2005, then improved, while Caála built increasingly disconnected streets from 1975 through 1976-1990, then improved and Shubra Khit built increasingly connected streets from 1975 through 1976-1990, then shifted to more disconnected patterns. For the full network, Kitenge and Caála both grew more disconnected from 1975 through 1991-2005, then improved, while Shubra Khit became more connected from 1975 through 1976-1990, then grew more sprawly from 1976-1990 onwards. Kitenge and Caála have been converging in their street-network character since 1975.