Abu Gharaq in context: Street-network sprawl trends

The chart above shows SNDi trends for new street additions (left panel) and the entire network (right panel), with Abu Gharaq plotted against Babil and Iraq. The SNDi of new construction in Abu Gharaq was at its lowest in 1991-2005, compared to Babil which followed a zig-zag trend with an overall increase and Iraq which peaked in 1976-1990. Most recently, Abu Gharaq's incremental SNDi rose from 2.49 to 3.08 between 1991-2005 and 2006-2020. In terms of the aggregate network, Abu Gharaq ranked 4th out of 6 cities in Babil and 62nd out of 86 in Iraq as of 2020.

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

What about similarly populated cities?

• Como, Italy
• 赵家沟, China
• Woldia, Ethiopia
• Sariakandi, Bangladesh
• Yong'an, China
• Laohekou, China

In new street additions, Abu Gharaq built increasingly connected streets from 1975 through 1991-2005, then shifted to more disconnected patterns, while Como built increasingly disconnected streets from 1975 through 1976-1990, then improved and Sariakandi fluctuated in its street-construction patterns. For the full network, Abu Gharaq became more connected from 1975 through 1991-2005, then grew more sprawly from 1991-2005 onwards, while Como became progressively more disconnected and Sariakandi became progressively more connected. Abu Gharaq and Como have been growing further apart in their street-network character since 1975.