Topi 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 Topi plotted against Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Pakistan. The SNDi of new construction in Topi was at its lowest in 1976-1990, compared to Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa which followed a zig-zag trend with an overall increase and Pakistan which followed a zig-zag trend with an overall increase. Most recently, Topi's incremental SNDi rose from 4.94 to 5.98 between 1991-2005 and 2006-2020. In terms of the aggregate network, Topi ranked 30th out of 67 cities in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and 225th out of 292 in Pakistan as of 2020.

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

What about similarly populated cities?

• Baghpat, India
• Burnley, United Kingdom
• Torbat-e Heydarieh, Iran
• Hangkongjidi, China
• Phool Nagar, Pakistan
• Balakovo, Russia

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