Essaouira in context: Street-network sprawl trends

Essaouira in context

11.522.5<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
11.522.5<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
EssaouiraMarrakech - Tensift - Al Haouz (Region)Morocco (Country)

The chart above shows SNDi trends for new street additions (left panel) and the entire network (right panel), with Essaouira plotted against Marrakech - Tensift - Al Haouz and Morocco. While Marrakech - Tensift - Al Haouz and Morocco both followed a zig-zag trend with an overall increase, Essaouira's new street additions followed a zig-zag trend with an overall increase. Most recently, Essaouira's incremental SNDi rose from 0.97 to 2.59 between 1991-2005 and 2006-2020. In terms of the aggregate network, Essaouira ranked 1st out of 4 cities in Marrakech - Tensift - Al Haouz and 1st out of 72 in Morocco as of 2020.

New Street Additions (2006–2020)

SNDi value
2.59
Rank in Morocco
48th of 72
Rank in Marrakech - Tensift - Al Haouz
4th of 4

Entire Network (Aggregate)

SNDi value
1.1
Rank in Morocco
1st of 72
Rank in Marrakech - Tensift - Al Haouz
1st of 4

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

What about similarly populated cities?

2468<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
2468<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
EssaouiraBeke KelateOgipur

In new street additions, Essaouira and Ogipur both fluctuated in its street-construction patterns, while Beke Kelate built increasingly connected streets from 1975 through 1991-2005, then shifted to more disconnected patterns. For the full street network, though, all three cities follow the same trend. Essaouira and Beke Kelate have been converging in their street-network character since 1975.