Dusseldorf in context: Street-network sprawl trends

Dusseldorf in context

22.42.83.2<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
22.42.83.2<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
DusseldorfNordrhein-Westfalen (Region)Germany (Country)

The chart above shows SNDi trends for new street additions (left panel) and the entire network (right panel), with Dusseldorf plotted against Nordrhein-Westfalen and Germany. The SNDi of new construction in Dusseldorf peaked in 1991-2005, compared to Nordrhein-Westfalen which rose steadily and Germany which rose steadily. Most recently, Dusseldorf's incremental SNDi fell from 2.76 to 2.38 between 1991-2005 and 2006-2020. In terms of the aggregate network, Dusseldorf ranked 11th out of 24 cities in Nordrhein-Westfalen and 65th out of 99 in Germany as of 2020.

New Street Additions (2006–2020)

SNDi value
2.38
Rank in Germany
29th of 99
Rank in Nordrhein-Westfalen
5th of 24

Entire Network (Aggregate)

SNDi value
2.1
Rank in Germany
65th of 99
Rank in Nordrhein-Westfalen
11th of 24

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
DusseldorfChelyabinskRamallah

In new street additions, Dusseldorf built increasingly disconnected streets from 1975 through 1991-2005, then improved, while Chelyabinsk built increasingly disconnected streets over time and Ramallah fluctuated in its street-construction patterns. For the full street network, though, all three cities follow the same trend. Notably, Dusseldorf had a more sprawly network than Chelyabinsk in 1975 but the two have since reversed their relative ranking.