Kakumba 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 Kakumba plotted against Kasaï and Democratic Republic of the Congo. The SNDi of new construction in Kakumba followed a zig-zag trend, compared to Kasaï which followed a zig-zag trend with an overall increase and Democratic Republic of the Congo which followed a zig-zag trend with an overall increase. In terms of the aggregate network, Kakumba ranked 1st out of 10 cities in Kasaï and 33rd 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?

• Vinhedo, Brazil
• Mehari, Bangladesh
• Panama City, United States
• Gadarpur, India
• Gabtali, Bangladesh
• Bokakhat, India

In new street additions, Kakumba fluctuated in its street-construction patterns, while Vinhedo built increasingly disconnected streets over time and Gadarpur built increasingly connected streets from 1975 through 1976-1990, then shifted to more disconnected patterns. For the full network, Kakumba became progressively more connected, while Vinhedo became progressively more disconnected and Gadarpur became more connected from 1975 through 1976-1990, then grew more sprawly from 1976-1990 onwards. Notably, Kakumba had a more sprawly network than Vinhedo in 1975 but the two have since reversed their relative ranking.