Varanasi in context: Street-network sprawl trends

Varanasi in context

3.644.44.8<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
3.644.44.8<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
VaranasiUttar Pradesh (Region)India (Country)

The chart above shows SNDi trends for new street additions (left panel) and the entire network (right panel), with Varanasi plotted against Uttar Pradesh and India. All three follow the same trend in new construction, suggesting a shared regional pattern of development. Most recently, Varanasi's incremental SNDi rose from 4.53 to 4.79 between 1991-2005 and 2006-2020. In terms of the aggregate network, Varanasi ranked 193rd out of 291 cities in Uttar Pradesh and 1253rd out of 1868 in India as of 2020.

New Street Additions (2006–2020)

SNDi value
4.79
Rank in India
941st of 1868
Rank in Uttar Pradesh
175th of 291

Entire Network (Aggregate)

SNDi value
4.38
Rank in India
1253rd of 1868
Rank in Uttar Pradesh
193rd of 291

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

What about similarly populated cities?

34567<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
34567<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
VaranasiJaipurKampala

In new street additions, Varanasi and Jaipur both fluctuated in its street-construction patterns, while Kampala built increasingly disconnected streets over time. For the full street network, though, all three cities follow the same trend. Varanasi and Jaipur have been growing further apart in their street-network character since 1975.