Leicester in context: Street-network sprawl trends

Leicester 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
LeicesterEngland (Region)United Kingdom (Country)

The chart above shows SNDi trends for new street additions (left panel) and the entire network (right panel), with Leicester plotted against England and United Kingdom. All three follow the same trend in new construction, suggesting a shared regional pattern of development. Most recently, Leicester's incremental SNDi fell from 4.45 to 4.16 between 1991-2005 and 2006-2020. In terms of the aggregate network, Leicester ranked 14th out of 124 cities in England and 17th out of 143 in United Kingdom as of 2020.

New Street Additions (2006–2020)

SNDi value
4.16
Rank in United Kingdom
74th of 143
Rank in England
67th of 124

Entire Network (Aggregate)

SNDi value
3.02
Rank in United Kingdom
17th of 143
Rank in England
14th of 124

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

What about similarly populated cities?

2.83.54.24.9<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
2.83.54.24.9<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
LeicesterRahikaJoinville

In new street additions, Leicester and Rahika both built increasingly disconnected streets from 1975 through 1991-2005, then improved, while Joinville fluctuated in its street-construction patterns. For the full street network, though, all three cities follow the same trend. Leicester and Rahika have been growing further apart in their street-network character since 1975.