Oxford in context: Street-network sprawl trends

Oxford 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
OxfordEngland (Region)United Kingdom (Country)

The chart above shows SNDi trends for new street additions (left panel) and the entire network (right panel), with Oxford plotted against England and United Kingdom. All three follow the same trend in new construction, suggesting a shared regional pattern of development. Most recently, Oxford's incremental SNDi fell from 3.63 to 2.74 between 1991-2005 and 2006-2020. In terms of the aggregate network, Oxford ranked 17th out of 124 cities in England and 20th out of 143 in United Kingdom as of 2020.

New Street Additions (2006–2020)

SNDi value
2.74
Rank in United Kingdom
8th of 143
Rank in England
8th of 124

Entire Network (Aggregate)

SNDi value
3.04
Rank in United Kingdom
20th of 143
Rank in England
17th of 124

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

What about similarly populated cities?

3.244.85.6<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
3.244.85.6<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
OxfordKamboveLodhran

In new street additions, Oxford and Kambove both built increasingly disconnected streets from 1975 through 1991-2005, then improved, while Lodhran fluctuated in its street-construction patterns. Looking at the full network, Kambove and Lodhran both became progressively more disconnected, while Oxford grew more disconnected from 1975 through 1991-2005, then improved. Oxford and Lodhran have been growing further apart in their street-network character since 1975.