Stevenage in context: Street-network sprawl trends

Stevenage 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
StevenageEngland (Region)United Kingdom (Country)

The chart above shows SNDi trends for new street additions (left panel) and the entire network (right panel), with Stevenage plotted against England and United Kingdom. The SNDi of new construction in Stevenage rose steadily, compared to England which peaked in 1991-2005 and United Kingdom which peaked in 1991-2005. Most recently, Stevenage's incremental SNDi rose from 3.74 to 3.83 between 1991-2005 and 2006-2020. In terms of the aggregate network, Stevenage ranked 22nd out of 124 cities in England and 27th out of 143 in United Kingdom as of 2020.

New Street Additions (2006–2020)

SNDi value
3.83
Rank in United Kingdom
59th of 143
Rank in England
53rd of 124

Entire Network (Aggregate)

SNDi value
3.11
Rank in United Kingdom
27th of 143
Rank in England
22nd of 124

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

What about similarly populated cities?

2.12.83.54.2<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
2.12.83.54.2<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
StevenageTucuruiPeppeganj

In new street additions, Stevenage and Peppeganj both built increasingly disconnected streets over time, while Tucuruí built increasingly disconnected streets from 1975 through 1976-1990, then improved. For the full network, Stevenage and Peppeganj both became progressively more disconnected, while Tucuruí grew more disconnected from 1975 through 1991-2005, then improved. Stevenage and Tucuruí have been converging in their street-network character since 1975.