Lalibela in context: Street-network sprawl trends

Lalibela in context

2.43.244.8<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
2.43.244.8<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
LalibelaAmhara (Region)Ethiopia (Country)

The chart above shows SNDi trends for new street additions (left panel) and the entire network (right panel), with Lalibela plotted against Amhara and Ethiopia. The SNDi of new construction in Lalibela rose steadily, compared to Amhara which rose steadily and Ethiopia which followed a zig-zag trend with an overall increase. Most recently, Lalibela's incremental SNDi rose from 4.5 to 4.63 between 1991-2005 and 2006-2020. In terms of the aggregate network, Lalibela ranked 33rd out of 41 cities in Amhara and 159th out of 181 in Ethiopia as of 2020.

New Street Additions (2006–2020)

SNDi value
4.63
Rank in Ethiopia
139th of 181
Rank in Amhara
28th of 41

Entire Network (Aggregate)

SNDi value
3.78
Rank in Ethiopia
159th of 181
Rank in Amhara
33rd of 41

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

What about similarly populated cities?

2.83.54.2<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
2.83.54.2<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
LalibelaQinyangSri Kalahasti

While Qinyang and Sri Kalahasti both fluctuated in its street-construction patterns, Lalibela built increasingly disconnected streets over time in new street additions. Looking at the full network, Qinyang and Sri Kalahasti both fluctuated in connectivity, while Lalibela became progressively more disconnected. Lalibela and Qinyang have been growing further apart in their street-network character since 1975.