KwaMhlanga in context: Street-network sprawl trends

KwaMhlanga in context

2.12.83.54.2<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
2.12.83.54.2<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
KwaMhlangaMpumalanga (Region)South Africa (Country)

The chart above shows SNDi trends for new street additions (left panel) and the entire network (right panel), with KwaMhlanga plotted against Mpumalanga and South Africa. The SNDi of new construction in KwaMhlanga followed a zig-zag trend with an overall increase, compared to Mpumalanga which rose steadily and South Africa which rose steadily. Most recently, KwaMhlanga's incremental SNDi rose from 2.29 to 2.76 between 1991-2005 and 2006-2020. In terms of the aggregate network, KwaMhlanga ranked 3rd out of 13 cities in Mpumalanga and 7th out of 81 in South Africa as of 2020.

New Street Additions (2006–2020)

SNDi value
2.76
Rank in South Africa
15th of 81
Rank in Mpumalanga
3rd of 13

Entire Network (Aggregate)

SNDi value
2.44
Rank in South Africa
7th of 81
Rank in Mpumalanga
3rd of 13

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

What about similarly populated cities?

1234<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
1234<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
KwaMhlangaIdahSumbawanga

While Idah and Sumbawanga both built increasingly disconnected streets over time, KwaMhlanga fluctuated in its street-construction patterns in new street additions. Looking at the full network, Idah and Sumbawanga both became progressively more disconnected, while KwaMhlanga fluctuated in connectivity. KwaMhlanga and Idah have been converging in their street-network character since 1975.