Le Mans in context: Street-network sprawl trends

Le Mans in context

1.82.433.64.2<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
1.82.433.64.2<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
Le MansPays de la Loire (Region)France (Country)

The chart above shows SNDi trends for new street additions (left panel) and the entire network (right panel), with Le Mans plotted against Pays de la Loire and France. All three follow the same trend in new construction, suggesting a shared regional pattern of development. Most recently, Le Mans's incremental SNDi fell from 2.89 to 2.7 between 1991-2005 and 2006-2020. In terms of the aggregate network, Le Mans ranked 2nd out of 4 cities in Pays de la Loire and 9th out of 73 in France as of 2020.

New Street Additions (2006–2020)

SNDi value
2.7
Rank in France
16th of 73
Rank in Pays de la Loire
3rd of 4

Entire Network (Aggregate)

SNDi value
2.12
Rank in France
9th of 73
Rank in Pays de la Loire
2nd of 4

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

What about similarly populated cities?

1.82.73.64.5<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
1.82.73.64.5<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
Le MansCharaSanzhouyi

In new street additions, Le Mans and Chara both built increasingly disconnected streets from 1975 through 1991-2005, then improved, while Sanzhouyi fluctuated in its street-construction patterns. For the full network, Le Mans and Chara both became progressively more disconnected, while Sanzhouyi fluctuated in connectivity. Le Mans and Chara have been growing further apart in their street-network character since 1975.