`Ataq in context: Street-network sprawl trends

The chart above shows SNDi trends for new street additions (left panel) and the entire network (right panel), with `Ataq plotted against Shabwah and Yemen. The SNDi of new construction in `Ataq peaked in 1976-1990, compared to Shabwah which followed a zig-zag trend with an overall increase and Yemen which followed a zig-zag trend with an overall increase. Most recently, `Ataq's incremental SNDi fell from 1.94 to 1.9 between 1991-2005 and 2006-2020. In terms of the aggregate network, `Ataq ranked 1st out of 2 cities in Shabwah and 4th out of 58 in Yemen as of 2020.

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

What about similarly populated cities?

• Yumbe, Uganda
• Ciudad Constitución, México
• Qingmuguan, China
• Banma Itahri, India
• Caiguan, China
• Kuje, Nigeria

In new street additions, `Ataq built increasingly disconnected streets from 1975 through 1976-1990, then improved, while Yumbe built increasingly connected streets from 1975 through 1976-1990, then shifted to more disconnected patterns and Banma Itahri built increasingly connected streets from 1975 through 1991-2005, then shifted to more disconnected patterns. For the full network, `Ataq grew more disconnected from 1975 through 1976-1990, then improved, while Yumbe became more connected from 1975 through 1976-1990, then grew more sprawly from 1976-1990 onwards and Banma Itahri became more connected from 1975 through 1991-2005, then grew more sprawly from 1991-2005 onwards. Notably, `Ataq had a more connected network than Yumbe in 1975 but the two have since reversed their relative ranking.