Reykjavik in context: Street-network sprawl trends

Reykjavik in context

22.22.42.62.8<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
22.22.42.62.8<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
ReykjavikHofudborgarsvaedi (Region)Iceland (Country)

The chart above shows SNDi trends for new street additions (left panel) and the entire network (right panel), with Reykjavik plotted against Höfuðborgarsvæði and Iceland. The SNDi of new construction in Reykjavik followed a zig-zag trend with an overall decrease, compared to Höfuðborgarsvæði which peaked in 1991-2005 and Iceland which peaked in 1976-1990. Most recently, Reykjavik's incremental SNDi fell from 2.64 to 2.03 between 1991-2005 and 2006-2020. In terms of the aggregate network, Reykjavik ranked 1st out of 1 cities in Höfuðborgarsvæði and 1st out of 1 in Iceland as of 2020.

New Street Additions (2006–2020)

SNDi value
2.03
Rank in Iceland
1st of 1
Rank in Höfuðborgarsvæði
1st of 1

Entire Network (Aggregate)

SNDi value
2.43
Rank in Iceland
1st of 1
Rank in Höfuðborgarsvæði
1st of 1

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
ReykjavikBaramatiShuantaizi

In new street additions, Reykjavik fluctuated in its street-construction patterns, while Baramati built increasingly disconnected streets over time and Shuantaizi built increasingly disconnected streets from 1975 through 1991-2005, then improved. Looking at the full network, Baramati and Shuantaizi both became progressively more disconnected, while Reykjavik fluctuated in connectivity. Notably, Reykjavik had a more sprawly network than Shuantaizi in 1975 but the two have since reversed their relative ranking.