Essen in context: Street-network sprawl trends

Essen 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
EssenNordrhein-Westfalen (Region)Germany (Country)

The chart above shows SNDi trends for new street additions (left panel) and the entire network (right panel), with Essen plotted against Nordrhein-Westfalen and Germany. All three follow the same trend in new construction, suggesting a shared regional pattern of development. Most recently, Essen's incremental SNDi rose from 2.79 to 2.88 between 1991-2005 and 2006-2020. In terms of the aggregate network, Essen ranked 12th out of 24 cities in Nordrhein-Westfalen and 67th out of 99 in Germany as of 2020.

New Street Additions (2006–2020)

SNDi value
2.88
Rank in Germany
54th of 99
Rank in Nordrhein-Westfalen
13th of 24

Entire Network (Aggregate)

SNDi value
2.14
Rank in Germany
67th of 99
Rank in Nordrhein-Westfalen
12th of 24

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

What about similarly populated cities?

234567<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
234567<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
EssenCebu CityGuiyang

In new street additions, Essen built increasingly disconnected streets over time, while Cebu City fluctuated in its street-construction patterns and Guiyang built increasingly disconnected streets from 1975 through 1976-1990, then improved. For the full network, Essen and Cebu City both became progressively more disconnected, while Guiyang grew more disconnected from 1975 through 1991-2005, then improved.