Kolwezi in context: Street-network sprawl trends

Kolwezi in context

33.64.2<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
33.64.2<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
KolweziLualaba (Region)Democratic Republic of the Congo (Country)

The chart above shows SNDi trends for new street additions (left panel) and the entire network (right panel), with Kolwezi plotted against Lualaba and Democratic Republic of the Congo. The SNDi of new construction in Kolwezi peaked in 1991-2005, compared to Lualaba 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. Most recently, Kolwezi's incremental SNDi fell from 3.44 to 2.75 between 1991-2005 and 2006-2020. In terms of the aggregate network, Kolwezi ranked 7th out of 11 cities in Lualaba and 81st out of 186 in Democratic Republic of the Congo as of 2020.

New Street Additions (2006–2020)

SNDi value
2.75
Rank in Democratic Republic of the Congo
36th of 186
Rank in Lualaba
2nd of 11

Entire Network (Aggregate)

SNDi value
2.82
Rank in Democratic Republic of the Congo
81st of 186
Rank in Lualaba
7th of 11

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

What about similarly populated cities?

2.43.244.8<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
2.43.244.8<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
KolweziChristchurchSandila

In new street additions, Kolwezi and Christchurch both built increasingly disconnected streets from 1975 through 1991-2005, then improved, while Sandila built increasingly disconnected streets over time. For the full network, Kolwezi and Christchurch both grew more disconnected from 1975 through 1991-2005, then improved, while Sandila became progressively more disconnected. Kolwezi and Christchurch have been growing further apart in their street-network character since 1975.