Gweru in context: Street-network sprawl trends

Gweru in context

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
GweruMidlands (Region)Zimbabwe (Country)

The chart above shows SNDi trends for new street additions (left panel) and the entire network (right panel), with Gweru plotted against Midlands and Zimbabwe. The SNDi of new construction in Gweru peaked in 1976-1990, compared to Midlands which rose steadily and Zimbabwe which rose steadily. Most recently, Gweru's incremental SNDi fell from 2.29 to 2.21 between 1991-2005 and 2006-2020. In terms of the aggregate network, Gweru ranked 2nd out of 4 cities in Midlands and 2nd out of 14 in Zimbabwe as of 2020.

New Street Additions (2006–2020)

SNDi value
2.21
Rank in Zimbabwe
1st of 14
Rank in Midlands
1st of 4

Entire Network (Aggregate)

SNDi value
2.19
Rank in Zimbabwe
2nd of 14
Rank in Midlands
2nd of 4

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

What about similarly populated cities?

246810<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
246810<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
GweruGowribidanurMatlab

While Gowribidanur and Matlab both fluctuated in its street-construction patterns, Gweru built increasingly disconnected streets from 1975 through 1976-1990, then improved in new street additions. For the full network, Gweru became progressively more disconnected, while Gowribidanur fluctuated in connectivity and Matlab became more connected from 1975 through 1991-2005, then grew more sprawly from 1991-2005 onwards. Gweru and Gowribidanur have been growing further apart in their street-network character since 1975.