Bloemfontein in context: Street-network sprawl trends

Bloemfontein 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
BloemfonteinFree State (Region)South Africa (Country)

The chart above shows SNDi trends for new street additions (left panel) and the entire network (right panel), with Bloemfontein plotted against Free State and South Africa. The SNDi of new construction in Bloemfontein peaked in 1991-2005, compared to Free State which peaked in 1976-1990 and South Africa which rose steadily. Most recently, Bloemfontein's incremental SNDi fell from 2.92 to 2.5 between 1991-2005 and 2006-2020. In terms of the aggregate network, Bloemfontein ranked 3rd out of 8 cities in Free State and 14th out of 81 in South Africa as of 2020.

New Street Additions (2006–2020)

SNDi value
2.5
Rank in South Africa
8th of 81
Rank in Free State
2nd of 8

Entire Network (Aggregate)

SNDi value
2.58
Rank in South Africa
14th of 81
Rank in Free State
3rd of 8

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

What about similarly populated cities?

2468<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
2468<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
BloemfonteinSan JuanPratapgarh

While San Juan and Pratapgarh both built increasingly disconnected streets over time, Bloemfontein built increasingly disconnected streets from 1975 through 1991-2005, then improved in new street additions. Looking at the full network, San Juan and Pratapgarh both became progressively more disconnected, while Bloemfontein grew more disconnected from 1975 through 1991-2005, then improved.