Heidelberg in context: Street-network sprawl trends

Heidelberg in context

22.533.5<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
22.533.5<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
HeidelbergBaden-Wurttemberg (Region)Germany (Country)

The chart above shows SNDi trends for new street additions (left panel) and the entire network (right panel), with Heidelberg plotted against Baden-Württemberg and Germany. The SNDi of new construction in Heidelberg peaked in 1991-2005, compared to Baden-Württemberg which followed a zig-zag trend with an overall increase and Germany which rose steadily. Most recently, Heidelberg's incremental SNDi fell from 2.68 to 2.35 between 1991-2005 and 2006-2020. In terms of the aggregate network, Heidelberg ranked 11th out of 15 cities in Baden-Württemberg and 51st out of 99 in Germany as of 2020.

New Street Additions (2006–2020)

SNDi value
2.35
Rank in Germany
25th of 99
Rank in Baden-Württemberg
6th of 15

Entire Network (Aggregate)

SNDi value
1.97
Rank in Germany
51st of 99
Rank in Baden-Württemberg
11th of 15

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

What about similarly populated cities?

2345<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
2345<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
HeidelbergHejianKurgan

Heidelberg, Hejian, and Kurgan all built increasingly disconnected streets from 1975 through 1991-2005, then improved in new street construction. For the full network, Heidelberg and Kurgan both became progressively more disconnected, while Hejian grew more disconnected from 1975 through 1991-2005, then improved.