Västerås in context: Street-network sprawl trends

Vasteras in context

22.42.83.2<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
22.42.83.2<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
VasterasVastmanland (Region)Sweden (Country)

The chart above shows SNDi trends for new street additions (left panel) and the entire network (right panel), with Västerås plotted against Västmanland and Sweden. The SNDi of new construction in Västerås followed a zig-zag trend with an overall increase, compared to Västmanland which followed a zig-zag trend with an overall increase and Sweden which rose steadily. Most recently, Västerås's incremental SNDi rose from 2.05 to 2.29 between 1991-2005 and 2006-2020. In terms of the aggregate network, Västerås ranked 1st out of 1 cities in Västmanland and 10th out of 17 in Sweden as of 2020.

New Street Additions (2006–2020)

SNDi value
2.29
Rank in Sweden
9th of 17
Rank in Västmanland
1st of 1

Entire Network (Aggregate)

SNDi value
1.87
Rank in Sweden
10th of 17
Rank in Västmanland
1st of 1

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

What about similarly populated cities?

246<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
246<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
VasterasArishUmu Lawlaw

In new street additions, Västerås and Arish both fluctuated in its street-construction patterns, while Umu Lawlaw built increasingly disconnected streets over time. For the full network, Västerås and Umu Lawlaw both became progressively more disconnected, while Arish grew more disconnected from 1975 through 1976-1990, then improved. Västerås and Umu Lawlaw have been growing further apart in their street-network character since 1975.