eMbalenhle in context: Street-network sprawl trends

eMbalenhle in context

33.64.2<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
33.64.2<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
eMbalenhleMpumalanga (Region)South Africa (Country)

The chart above shows SNDi trends for new street additions (left panel) and the entire network (right panel), with eMbalenhle plotted against Mpumalanga and South Africa. The SNDi of new construction in eMbalenhle was at its lowest in 1991-2005, compared to Mpumalanga which rose steadily and South Africa which rose steadily. Most recently, eMbalenhle's incremental SNDi rose from 2.99 to 3.34 between 1991-2005 and 2006-2020. In terms of the aggregate network, eMbalenhle ranked 7th out of 13 cities in Mpumalanga and 41st out of 81 in South Africa as of 2020.

New Street Additions (2006–2020)

SNDi value
3.34
Rank in South Africa
28th of 81
Rank in Mpumalanga
5th of 13

Entire Network (Aggregate)

SNDi value
3.19
Rank in South Africa
41st of 81
Rank in Mpumalanga
7th of 13

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

What about similarly populated cities?

2345<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
2345<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
eMbalenhleAflaoKovrov

In new street additions, eMbalenhle built increasingly connected streets from 1975 through 1991-2005, then shifted to more disconnected patterns, while Aflao built increasingly disconnected streets from 1975 through 1991-2005, then improved and Kovrov built increasingly disconnected streets from 1975 through 1976-1990, then improved. Looking at the full network, Aflao and Kovrov both grew more disconnected from 1975 through 1991-2005, then improved, while eMbalenhle fluctuated in connectivity.