Kitwe in context: Street-network sprawl trends

Kitwe in context

2.433.64.2<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
2.433.64.2<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
KitweCopperbelt (Region)Zambia (Country)

The chart above shows SNDi trends for new street additions (left panel) and the entire network (right panel), with Kitwe plotted against Copperbelt and Zambia. All three follow the same trend in new construction, suggesting a shared regional pattern of development. Most recently, Kitwe's incremental SNDi rose from 3.69 to 4.39 between 1991-2005 and 2006-2020. In terms of the aggregate network, Kitwe ranked 7th out of 7 cities in Copperbelt and 24th out of 30 in Zambia as of 2020.

New Street Additions (2006–2020)

SNDi value
4.39
Rank in Zambia
24th of 30
Rank in Copperbelt
6th of 7

Entire Network (Aggregate)

SNDi value
3.04
Rank in Zambia
24th of 30
Rank in Copperbelt
7th of 7

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

What about similarly populated cities?

2.73.64.55.4<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
2.73.64.55.4<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
KitweZakhoBlida

In new street additions, Kitwe and Blida both built increasingly disconnected streets over time, while Zakho fluctuated in its street-construction patterns. For the full street network, though, all three cities follow the same trend. Kitwe and Zakho have been growing further apart in their street-network character since 1975.