Madrid in context: Street-network sprawl trends

Madrid in context

1.622.42.83.2<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
1.622.42.83.2<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
MadridComunidad de Madrid (Region)Spain (Country)

The chart above shows SNDi trends for new street additions (left panel) and the entire network (right panel), with Madrid plotted against Comunidad de Madrid and Spain. All three follow the same trend in new construction, suggesting a shared regional pattern of development. Most recently, Madrid's incremental SNDi fell from 2.35 to 2.12 between 1991-2005 and 2006-2020. In terms of the aggregate network, Madrid ranked 3rd out of 7 cities in Comunidad de Madrid and 44th out of 85 in Spain as of 2020.

New Street Additions (2006–2020)

SNDi value
2.12
Rank in Spain
38th of 85
Rank in Comunidad de Madrid
5th of 7

Entire Network (Aggregate)

SNDi value
1.92
Rank in Spain
44th of 85
Rank in Comunidad de Madrid
3rd of 7

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
MadridTorontoHanoi

In new street additions, Madrid and Toronto both built increasingly disconnected streets from 1975 through 1976-1990, then improved, while Hanoi built increasingly disconnected streets from 1975 through 1991-2005, then improved. For the full network, Madrid and Toronto both became progressively more disconnected, while Hanoi grew more disconnected from 1975 through 1991-2005, then improved.