Bukavu 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 Bukavu plotted against Sud-Kivu and Democratic Republic of the Congo. The SNDi of new construction in Bukavu was at its lowest in 1991-2005, compared to Sud-Kivu 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, Bukavu's incremental SNDi rose from 5.88 to 8.48 between 1991-2005 and 2006-2020. In terms of the aggregate network, Bukavu ranked 11th out of 12 cities in Sud-Kivu and 173rd 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?

• Bilaspur, India
• Cuiabá, Brazil
• Huadu, China
• Ad Diwaniyah, Iraq
• Tshikapa, Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Pontianak, Indonesia

In new street additions, Bukavu built increasingly connected streets from 1975 through 1991-2005, then shifted to more disconnected patterns, while Bilaspur built increasingly disconnected streets over time and Ad Diwaniyah fluctuated in its street-construction patterns. Looking at the full network, Bilaspur and Ad Diwaniyah both became progressively more disconnected, while Bukavu became more connected from 1975 through 1991-2005, then grew more sprawly from 1991-2005 onwards. Bukavu and Bilaspur have been converging in their street-network character since 1975.