Polokwane in context: Street-network sprawl trends

Polokwane in context

2.43.24<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
2.43.24<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
PolokwaneLimpopo (Region)South Africa (Country)

The chart above shows SNDi trends for new street additions (left panel) and the entire network (right panel), with Polokwane plotted against Limpopo and South Africa. All three follow the same trend in new construction, suggesting a shared regional pattern of development. Most recently, Polokwane's incremental SNDi rose from 3.19 to 3.24 between 1991-2005 and 2006-2020. In terms of the aggregate network, Polokwane ranked 3rd out of 4 cities in Limpopo and 19th out of 81 in South Africa as of 2020.

New Street Additions (2006–2020)

SNDi value
3.24
Rank in South Africa
26th of 81
Rank in Limpopo
3rd of 4

Entire Network (Aggregate)

SNDi value
2.71
Rank in South Africa
19th of 81
Rank in Limpopo
3rd of 4

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

What about similarly populated cities?

23456<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
23456<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
PolokwaneTaunggyiSivas

While Taunggyi and Sivas both fluctuated in its street-construction patterns, Polokwane built increasingly disconnected streets over time in new street additions. For the full network, Polokwane and Sivas both became progressively more disconnected, while Taunggyi fluctuated in connectivity. Polokwane and Sivas have been growing further apart in their street-network character since 1975.