Al Ain in context: Street-network sprawl trends

Al Ain in context

2.42.733.33.6<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
2.42.733.33.6<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
Al AinAbu Dhabi (Region)United Arab Emirates (Country)

The chart above shows SNDi trends for new street additions (left panel) and the entire network (right panel), with Al Ain plotted against Abu Dhabi and United Arab Emirates. The SNDi of new construction in Al Ain fell steadily, compared to Abu Dhabi which peaked in 1991-2005 and United Arab Emirates which rose steadily. Most recently, Al Ain's incremental SNDi fell from 3.09 to 2.75 between 1991-2005 and 2006-2020. In terms of the aggregate network, Al Ain ranked 8th out of 9 cities in Abu Dhabi and 13th out of 15 in United Arab Emirates as of 2020.

New Street Additions (2006–2020)

SNDi value
2.75
Rank in United Arab Emirates
10th of 15
Rank in Abu Dhabi
6th of 9

Entire Network (Aggregate)

SNDi value
3.14
Rank in United Arab Emirates
13th of 15
Rank in Abu Dhabi
8th of 9

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

What about similarly populated cities?

1.522.533.5<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
1.522.533.5<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
Al AinBikanerChihuahua

While Bikaner and Chihuahua both fluctuated in its street-construction patterns, Al Ain built increasingly connected streets over time in new street additions. Looking at the full network, Bikaner and Chihuahua both became progressively more disconnected, while Al Ain became progressively more connected. Al Ain and Bikaner have been converging in their street-network character since 1975.