Potchefstroom in context: Street-network sprawl trends

Potchefstroom 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
PotchefstroomNorth West (Region)South Africa (Country)

The chart above shows SNDi trends for new street additions (left panel) and the entire network (right panel), with Potchefstroom plotted against North West and South Africa. All three follow the same trend in new construction, suggesting a shared regional pattern of development. Most recently, Potchefstroom's incremental SNDi rose from 3.38 to 4.31 between 1991-2005 and 2006-2020. In terms of the aggregate network, Potchefstroom ranked 5th out of 9 cities in North West and 42nd out of 81 in South Africa as of 2020.

New Street Additions (2006–2020)

SNDi value
4.31
Rank in South Africa
55th of 81
Rank in North West
6th of 9

Entire Network (Aggregate)

SNDi value
3.2
Rank in South Africa
42nd of 81
Rank in North West
5th of 9

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
PotchefstroomYuechiSettat

In new street additions, Potchefstroom built increasingly disconnected streets over time, while Yuechi built increasingly connected streets from 1975 through 1976-1990, then shifted to more disconnected patterns and Settat built increasingly disconnected streets from 1975 through 1991-2005, then improved. For the full network, Potchefstroom and Settat both became progressively more disconnected, while Yuechi became more connected from 1975 through 1976-1990, then grew more sprawly from 1976-1990 onwards. Potchefstroom and Yuechi have been converging in their street-network character since 1975.