Erbil in context: Street-network sprawl trends

Erbil in context

22.533.5<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
22.533.5<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
ErbilArbil (Region)Iraq (Country)

The chart above shows SNDi trends for new street additions (left panel) and the entire network (right panel), with Erbil plotted against Arbil and Iraq. The SNDi of new construction in Erbil followed a zig-zag trend with an overall increase, compared to Arbil which followed a zig-zag trend with an overall increase and Iraq which peaked in 1976-1990. Most recently, Erbil's incremental SNDi rose from 2.52 to 2.98 between 1991-2005 and 2006-2020. In terms of the aggregate network, Erbil ranked 2nd out of 3 cities in Arbil and 47th out of 86 in Iraq as of 2020.

New Street Additions (2006–2020)

SNDi value
2.98
Rank in Iraq
57th of 86
Rank in Arbil
3rd of 3

Entire Network (Aggregate)

SNDi value
2.61
Rank in Iraq
47th of 86
Rank in Arbil
2nd of 3

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

What about similarly populated cities?

23456<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
23456<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
ErbilCixiSalem

In new street additions, Erbil and Cixi both fluctuated in its street-construction patterns, while Salem built increasingly disconnected streets over time. For the full network, Erbil and Salem both became progressively more disconnected, while Cixi fluctuated in connectivity. Erbil and Cixi have been converging in their street-network character since 1975.