Bena-Leka 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 Bena-Leka plotted against Kasaï-Central and Democratic Republic of the Congo. The SNDi of new construction in Bena-Leka followed a zig-zag trend, compared to Kasaï-Central which rose steadily and Democratic Republic of the Congo which followed a zig-zag trend with an overall increase. Most recently, Bena-Leka's incremental SNDi rose from 0.91 to 1.44 between 1991-2005 and 2006-2020. In terms of the aggregate network, Bena-Leka ranked 4th out of 6 cities in Kasaï-Central and 151st 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?

• Concepción, Argentina
• Fair Oaks, United States
• Bulbulchandi, India
• Buloqboshi, Uzbekistan
• Sharaqpur, Pakistan
• Tabluha, Egypt

While Concepción and Buloqboshi both built increasingly disconnected streets over time, Bena-Leka fluctuated in its street-construction patterns in new street additions. Looking at the full network, Concepción and Buloqboshi both became progressively more disconnected, while Bena-Leka fluctuated in connectivity. Bena-Leka and Concepción have been converging in their street-network character since 1975.