KaMaqhekeza in context: Street-network sprawl trends

KaMaqhekeza in context

1.62.43.24<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
1.62.43.24<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
KaMaqhekezaMpumalanga (Region)South Africa (Country)

The chart above shows SNDi trends for new street additions (left panel) and the entire network (right panel), with KaMaqhekeza plotted against Mpumalanga and South Africa. The SNDi of new construction in KaMaqhekeza followed a zig-zag trend with an overall increase, compared to Mpumalanga which rose steadily and South Africa which rose steadily. Most recently, KaMaqhekeza's incremental SNDi rose from 2.19 to 2.5 between 1991-2005 and 2006-2020. In terms of the aggregate network, KaMaqhekeza ranked 2nd out of 13 cities in Mpumalanga and 3rd out of 81 in South Africa as of 2020.

New Street Additions (2006–2020)

SNDi value
2.5
Rank in South Africa
9th of 81
Rank in Mpumalanga
2nd of 13

Entire Network (Aggregate)

SNDi value
2.19
Rank in South Africa
3rd of 81
Rank in Mpumalanga
2nd of 13

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

What about similarly populated cities?

1.82.73.64.5<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
1.82.73.64.5<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
KaMaqhekezaMidlandBhinga

In new street additions, KaMaqhekeza and Bhinga both fluctuated in its street-construction patterns, while Midland built increasingly disconnected streets from 1975 through 1991-2005, then improved. For the full street network, though, all three cities follow the same trend. KaMaqhekeza and Midland have been growing further apart in their street-network character since 1975.