Tenke 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 Tenke plotted against Lualaba and Democratic Republic of the Congo. The SNDi of new construction in Tenke 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, Tenke's incremental SNDi fell from 4.63 to 3.3 between 1991-2005 and 2006-2020. In terms of the aggregate network, Tenke ranked 8th out of 11 cities in Lualaba and 103rd 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?

• Muguo, China
• Tena, Ecuador
• Colina, Chile
• Trapeang Prasat, Cambodia
• Sètiguiya, Guinea
• Mado Gashi, Kenya

In new street additions, Tenke built increasingly disconnected streets from 1975 through 1991-2005, then improved, while Muguo built increasingly disconnected streets from 1975 through 1976-1990, then improved and Trapeang Prasat fluctuated in its street-construction patterns. Looking at the full network, Muguo and Trapeang Prasat both grew more disconnected from 1975 through 1976-1990, then improved, while Tenke grew more disconnected from 1975 through 1991-2005, then improved. Notably, Tenke had a more connected network than Trapeang Prasat in 1975 but the two have since reversed their relative ranking.