Vanderbijlpark in context: Street-network sprawl trends

Vanderbijlpark in context

2.43.244.8<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
2.43.244.8<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
VanderbijlparkGauteng (Region)South Africa (Country)

The chart above shows SNDi trends for new street additions (left panel) and the entire network (right panel), with Vanderbijlpark plotted against Gauteng and South Africa. The SNDi of new construction in Vanderbijlpark peaked in 1991-2005, compared to Gauteng which peaked in 1991-2005 and South Africa which rose steadily. Most recently, Vanderbijlpark's incremental SNDi fell from 3.67 to 3.58 between 1991-2005 and 2006-2020. In terms of the aggregate network, Vanderbijlpark ranked 3rd out of 14 cities in Gauteng and 26th out of 81 in South Africa as of 2020.

New Street Additions (2006–2020)

SNDi value
3.58
Rank in South Africa
38th of 81
Rank in Gauteng
7th of 14

Entire Network (Aggregate)

SNDi value
2.91
Rank in South Africa
26th of 81
Rank in Gauteng
3rd of 14

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
VanderbijlparkZiguinchorAmbano

In new street additions, Vanderbijlpark built increasingly disconnected streets from 1975 through 1991-2005, then improved, while Ziguinchor built increasingly disconnected streets over time and Ambano fluctuated in its street-construction patterns. For the full network, Vanderbijlpark and Ziguinchor both became progressively more disconnected, while Ambano fluctuated in connectivity.