Mpumalanga in context: Street-network sprawl trends

Mpumalanga in context

34567<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
34567<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
MpumalangaKwaZulu-Natal (Region)South Africa (Country)

The chart above shows SNDi trends for new street additions (left panel) and the entire network (right panel), with Mpumalanga plotted against KwaZulu-Natal and South Africa. The SNDi of new construction in Mpumalanga peaked in 1976-1990, compared to KwaZulu-Natal which rose steadily and South Africa which rose steadily. Most recently, Mpumalanga's incremental SNDi fell from 5.64 to 4.1 between 1991-2005 and 2006-2020. In terms of the aggregate network, Mpumalanga ranked 6th out of 8 cities in KwaZulu-Natal and 76th out of 81 in South Africa as of 2020.

New Street Additions (2006–2020)

SNDi value
4.1
Rank in South Africa
54th of 81
Rank in KwaZulu-Natal
2nd of 8

Entire Network (Aggregate)

SNDi value
5.09
Rank in South Africa
76th of 81
Rank in KwaZulu-Natal
6th of 8

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

What about similarly populated cities?

3.64.55.46.3<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
3.64.55.46.3<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
MpumalangaSimoes FilhoRuili

In new street additions, Mpumalanga built increasingly disconnected streets from 1975 through 1976-1990, then improved, while Simões Filho fluctuated in its street-construction patterns and Ruili built increasingly disconnected streets over time. For the full network, Mpumalanga grew more disconnected from 1975 through 1991-2005, then improved, while Simões Filho fluctuated in connectivity and Ruili became progressively more disconnected. Mpumalanga and Simões Filho have been converging in their street-network character since 1975.