Busan in context: Street-network sprawl trends

Busan 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
BusanSouth Korea (Country)

The chart above shows SNDi trends for new street additions (left panel) and the entire network (right panel), with Busan plotted against South Korea. The SNDi of new construction in Busan rose steadily, while South Korea followed a zig-zag trend with an overall increase. Most recently, Busan's incremental SNDi rose from 3.13 to 4.2 between 1991-2005 and 2006-2020. In terms of the aggregate network, Busan ranked 20th out of 49 in South Korea as of 2020.

New Street Additions (2006–2020)

SNDi value
4.2
Rank in South Korea
49th of 49

Entire Network (Aggregate)

SNDi value
1.8
Rank in South Korea
20th of 49

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

What about similarly populated cities?

12345<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
12345<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
BusanAthensMedellin

While Athens and Medellín both fluctuated in its street-construction patterns, Busan built increasingly disconnected streets over time in new street additions. For the full street network, though, all three cities follow the same trend. Busan and Athens have been growing further apart in their street-network character since 1975.