Makhanda in context: Street-network sprawl trends

Makhanda in context

2.12.83.54.2<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
2.12.83.54.2<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
MakhandaEastern Cape (Region)South Africa (Country)

The chart above shows SNDi trends for new street additions (left panel) and the entire network (right panel), with Makhanda plotted against Eastern Cape and South Africa. The SNDi of new construction in Makhanda peaked in 1976-1990, compared to Eastern Cape which rose steadily and South Africa which rose steadily. Most recently, Makhanda's incremental SNDi fell from 3.46 to 2.41 between 1991-2005 and 2006-2020. In terms of the aggregate network, Makhanda ranked 3rd out of 9 cities in Eastern Cape and 21st out of 81 in South Africa as of 2020.

New Street Additions (2006–2020)

SNDi value
2.41
Rank in South Africa
6th of 81
Rank in Eastern Cape
2nd of 9

Entire Network (Aggregate)

SNDi value
2.83
Rank in South Africa
21st of 81
Rank in Eastern Cape
3rd of 9

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

What about similarly populated cities?

12345<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
12345<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
MakhandaYanpenGeorai

In new street additions, Makhanda built increasingly disconnected streets from 1975 through 1976-1990, then improved, while Yanpen built increasingly connected streets over time and Georai built increasingly disconnected streets over time. For the full network, Makhanda grew more disconnected from 1975 through 1991-2005, then improved, while Yanpen became progressively more connected and Georai became progressively more disconnected. Makhanda and Yanpen have been converging in their street-network character since 1975.