الياقوت 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 الياقوت plotted against Makkah and Saudi Arabia. The SNDi of new construction in الياقوت peaked in 1976-1990, compared to Makkah which followed a zig-zag trend with an overall increase and Saudi Arabia which followed a zig-zag trend with an overall increase. Most recently, الياقوت's incremental SNDi fell from 3.77 to 3.62 between 1991-2005 and 2006-2020. In terms of the aggregate network, الياقوت ranked 6th out of 9 cities in Makkah and 38th out of 44 in Saudi Arabia as of 2020.

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

What about similarly populated cities?

• Ugborodo, Nigeria
• Harlow, United Kingdom
• Malakanagiri, India
• Jecheon-si, South Korea
• Huanan, China
• Banyo, Cameroon

While Ugborodo and Jecheon-si both fluctuated in its street-construction patterns, الياقوت built increasingly disconnected streets from 1975 through 1976-1990, then improved in new street additions. For the full network, الياقوت and Ugborodo both grew more disconnected from 1975 through 1976-1990, then improved, while Jecheon-si became progressively more disconnected. الياقوت and Ugborodo have been growing further apart in their street-network character since 1975.