Dordrecht 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 Dordrecht plotted against Zuid-Holland and Netherlands. The SNDi of new construction in Dordrecht was at its lowest in 1976-1990, compared to Zuid-Holland which peaked in 1991-2005 and Netherlands which peaked in 1991-2005. Most recently, Dordrecht's incremental SNDi rose from 3.14 to 3.29 between 1991-2005 and 2006-2020. In terms of the aggregate network, Dordrecht ranked 5th out of 6 cities in Zuid-Holland and 42nd out of 43 in Netherlands as of 2020.

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

What about similarly populated cities?

• Siem Reap, Cambodia
• Derby, United Kingdom
• Chernivtsi, Ukraine
• Pavlodar, Kazakhstan
• Auraiya, India
• San Salvador de Jujuy, Argentina

In new street additions, Dordrecht built increasingly connected streets from 1975 through 1976-1990, then shifted to more disconnected patterns, while Siem Reap built increasingly connected streets from 1975 through 1991-2005, then shifted to more disconnected patterns and Pavlodar built increasingly disconnected streets over time. For the full network, Dordrecht became more connected from 1975 through 1976-1990, then grew more sprawly from 1976-1990 onwards, while Siem Reap became more connected from 1975 through 1991-2005, then grew more sprawly from 1991-2005 onwards and Pavlodar became progressively more disconnected. Dordrecht and Pavlodar have been converging in their street-network character since 1975.