Cologne in context: Street-network sprawl trends

Cologne in context

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

The chart above shows SNDi trends for new street additions (left panel) and the entire network (right panel), with Cologne plotted against Nordrhein-Westfalen and Germany. All three follow the same trend in new construction, suggesting a shared regional pattern of development. Most recently, Cologne's incremental SNDi rose from 2.54 to 2.54 between 1991-2005 and 2006-2020. In terms of the aggregate network, Cologne ranked 6th out of 24 cities in Nordrhein-Westfalen and 50th out of 99 in Germany as of 2020.

New Street Additions (2006–2020)

SNDi value
2.54
Rank in Germany
39th of 99
Rank in Nordrhein-Westfalen
8th of 24

Entire Network (Aggregate)

SNDi value
1.97
Rank in Germany
50th of 99
Rank in Nordrhein-Westfalen
6th of 24

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

What about similarly populated cities?

1.82.12.42.7<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
1.82.12.42.7<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
CologneHuizhouMaiduguri

In new street additions, Cologne and Huizhou both built increasingly disconnected streets over time, while Maiduguri built increasingly connected streets over time. For the full network, Cologne and Huizhou both became progressively more disconnected, while Maiduguri became progressively more connected. Cologne and Huizhou have been growing further apart in their street-network character since 1975.