Alabama in context: Street-network sprawl trends

Alabama in context

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

The chart above shows SNDi trends for new street additions (left panel) and the entire network (right panel), with Alabama plotted against North West and South Africa. The SNDi of new construction in Alabama peaked in 1991-2005, compared to North West which rose steadily and South Africa which rose steadily. Most recently, Alabama's incremental SNDi fell from 2.99 to 2.43 between 1991-2005 and 2006-2020. In terms of the aggregate network, Alabama ranked 3rd out of 9 cities in North West and 16th out of 81 in South Africa as of 2020.

New Street Additions (2006–2020)

SNDi value
2.43
Rank in South Africa
7th of 81
Rank in North West
2nd of 9

Entire Network (Aggregate)

SNDi value
2.6
Rank in South Africa
16th of 81
Rank in North West
3rd of 9

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

What about similarly populated cities?

1.522.53<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
1.522.53<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
AlabamaYopalBou Saada

While Yopal and Bou Saada both fluctuated in its street-construction patterns, Alabama built increasingly disconnected streets from 1975 through 1991-2005, then improved in new street additions. For the full network, Alabama grew more disconnected from 1975 through 1991-2005, then improved, while Yopal grew more disconnected from 1975 through 1976-1990, then improved and Bou Saada became progressively more disconnected. Alabama and Yopal have been growing further apart in their street-network character since 1975.