Somerset West in context: Street-network sprawl trends

Somerset West in context

33.64.24.8<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
33.64.24.8<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
Somerset WestWestern Cape (Region)South Africa (Country)

The chart above shows SNDi trends for new street additions (left panel) and the entire network (right panel), with Somerset West plotted against Western Cape and South Africa. The SNDi of new construction in Somerset West peaked in 1991-2005, compared to Western Cape which rose steadily and South Africa which rose steadily. Most recently, Somerset West's incremental SNDi fell from 4.63 to 4.58 between 1991-2005 and 2006-2020. In terms of the aggregate network, Somerset West ranked 7th out of 14 cities in Western Cape and 58th out of 81 in South Africa as of 2020.

New Street Additions (2006–2020)

SNDi value
4.58
Rank in South Africa
58th of 81
Rank in Western Cape
9th of 14

Entire Network (Aggregate)

SNDi value
3.78
Rank in South Africa
58th of 81
Rank in Western Cape
7th of 14

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
Somerset WestAsellaParli

In new street additions, Somerset West built increasingly disconnected streets from 1975 through 1991-2005, then improved, while Asella built increasingly disconnected streets over time and Parli fluctuated in its street-construction patterns. For the full network, Somerset West and Asella both became progressively more disconnected, while Parli fluctuated in connectivity. Somerset West and Asella have been growing further apart in their street-network character since 1975.