Mecca in context: Street-network sprawl trends

Mecca in context

33.544.5<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
33.544.5<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
MeccaMakkah (Region)Saudi Arabia (Country)

The chart above shows SNDi trends for new street additions (left panel) and the entire network (right panel), with Mecca plotted against Makkah and Saudi Arabia. The SNDi of new construction in Mecca 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, Mecca's incremental SNDi fell from 4.3 to 4.21 between 1991-2005 and 2006-2020. In terms of the aggregate network, Mecca ranked 9th out of 9 cities in Makkah and 41st out of 44 in Saudi Arabia as of 2020.

New Street Additions (2006–2020)

SNDi value
4.21
Rank in Saudi Arabia
40th of 44
Rank in Makkah
8th of 9

Entire Network (Aggregate)

SNDi value
4.0
Rank in Saudi Arabia
41st of 44
Rank in Makkah
9th of 9

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

What about similarly populated cities?

3.54.24.95.6<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
3.54.24.95.6<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
MeccaPretoriaSacramento

In new street additions, Mecca and Sacramento both built increasingly disconnected streets from 1975 through 1976-1990, then improved, while Pretoria built increasingly disconnected streets from 1975 through 1991-2005, then improved. For the full network, Mecca and Pretoria both became progressively more disconnected, while Sacramento grew more disconnected from 1975 through 1991-2005, then improved. Notably, Mecca had a more sprawly network than Pretoria in 1975 but the two have since reversed their relative ranking.