Munich in context: Street-network sprawl trends

Munich in context

1.21.82.433.6<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
1.21.82.433.6<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
MunichBayern (Region)Germany (Country)

The chart above shows SNDi trends for new street additions (left panel) and the entire network (right panel), with Munich plotted against Bayern and Germany. The SNDi of new construction in Munich followed a zig-zag trend with an overall increase, compared to Bayern which peaked in 1991-2005 and Germany which rose steadily. Most recently, Munich's incremental SNDi rose from 1.68 to 1.79 between 1991-2005 and 2006-2020. In terms of the aggregate network, Munich ranked 1st out of 14 cities in Bayern and 2nd out of 99 in Germany as of 2020.

New Street Additions (2006–2020)

SNDi value
1.79
Rank in Germany
5th of 99
Rank in Bayern
2nd of 14

Entire Network (Aggregate)

SNDi value
1.39
Rank in Germany
2nd of 99
Rank in Bayern
1st of 14

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

What about similarly populated cities?

1.21.82.43<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
1.21.82.43<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
MunichDohaSanta Cruz de la Sierra

In new street additions, Munich and Santa Cruz de la Sierra both fluctuated in its street-construction patterns, while Doha built increasingly disconnected streets from 1975 through 1991-2005, then improved. For the full street network, though, all three cities follow the same trend. Munich and Santa Cruz de la Sierra have been growing further apart in their street-network character since 1975.