Otaru in context: Street-network sprawl trends
Otaru in context
The chart above shows SNDi trends for new street additions (left panel) and the entire network (right panel), with Otaru plotted against Hokkaido and Japan. The SNDi of new construction in Otaru rose steadily, compared to Hokkaido which followed a zig-zag trend with an overall increase and Japan which followed a zig-zag trend with an overall increase. Most recently, Otaru's incremental SNDi rose from 3.9 to 4.42 between 1991-2005 and 2006-2020. In terms of the aggregate network, Otaru ranked 9th out of 10 cities in Hokkaido and 102nd out of 135 in Japan as of 2020.
New Street Additions (2006–2020)
- SNDi value
- 4.42
- Rank in Japan
- 126th of 135
- Rank in Hokkaido
- 9th of 10
Entire Network (Aggregate)
- SNDi value
- 2.68
- Rank in Japan
- 102nd of 135
- Rank in Hokkaido
- 9th of 10
Rankings go from most connected to most disconnected — rank 1 is the most connected.
What about similarly populated cities?
- Erlangen, Germany
- Syracuse, Italy
- Mehkar, India
- Ali Sabieh, Djibouti
- Meftah, Algeria
- Luanchuan, China
In new street additions, Otaru built increasingly disconnected streets over time, while Erlangen fluctuated in its street-construction patterns and Ali Sabieh built increasingly connected streets from 1975 through 1976-1990, then shifted to more disconnected patterns. For the full network, Otaru became progressively more disconnected, while Erlangen fluctuated in connectivity and Ali Sabieh became more connected from 1975 through 1976-1990, then grew more sprawly from 1976-1990 onwards. Otaru and Ali Sabieh have been growing further apart in their street-network character since 1975.