Street-network Sprawl in Rio Grande, Argentina

What is Street-network sprawl?

Street-network Sprawl is a way to measure urban sprawl, worldwide, through the connectedness of the streets. Less sprawl means more connected, more walkable streets. Well-connected streets – like New York City’s grid – are more walkable and can be served by public transit.

The street network is permanent, and its connectivity affects the livability and environmental footprint of cities for decades and centuries to come. In places with more connected streets, residents drive less and walk more. A well-connected street network is associated with better outcomes for health, the environment, sustainable consumption, social integration, and equity.

We can quantify how connected street networks are with the Street Network Disconnectedness Index (SNDi).

SNDi -- our measure of street-network sprawl (disconnectedness)

The SNDi is a comprehensive measurement of “sprawl”. It captures:

A higher SNDi means less-connected streets – i.e., more sprawl. For the 10137 cities in our dataset, the average SNDi is 2.25, with half of the cities' SNDis falling between 1.08 and 3.25.

More information on the sprawl index can be found in these research papers:

To see the state of street-network sprawl across the globe, visit the sprawlmap.

Rio Grande: city in Tierra del Fuego, Argentina

What exactly constitutes the spatial extent of the city? For these aggregations, we used the Global Human Settlement Layer Urban Center Database (GHS-UCDB) to define the boundaries of the city. These cities -- or urban centers -- cover areas that are densely populated and built-up, and so may extend beyond the spatial borders of these cities that we may be familiar with. The GHS area is shaded in blue.

View Rio Grande, Argentina on the sprawlmap

Most recent snapshot: Taking into account the entire (i.e. aggregate) street network in Rio Grande as of 2014, the overall level of street-network sprawl is -0.1, which is very well-connected.

Trends in street network construction: The SNDis of street construction for the respective time periods are nan, nan, -0.24 and 0.43. Data was not available in 1975 and 1976-1990.

Quantity of street network construction: The street network in Rio Grande spans a total of 4 kilometers. It is dominated by roads constructed in 1991-2000. These roads have an SNDi of -0.24, which is very well-connected.

Effect on the aggregate network: New construction in each period adds to the total stock of streets, but does not change streets that have already been built. Therefore, it has a limited effect on the street network as a whole. The SNDis of the aggregate street network in the respective time periods are nan, nan, -0.24 and -0.1. Data was not available in 1975 and 1976-1990.

Rio Grande and Tierra del Fuego do not follow the same trend in the disconnectivity of their street network constructions. There was not enough data from the city, as well as the Tierra del Fuego's street network construction.

How do development practices in Rio Grande fare in comparison to others in Tierra del Fuego? Most recently in 2001-2014, street construction in Rio Grande was the 1st-most disconnected out of the 1 cities in Tierra del Fuego. Its position in the ranks since 1975 has not changed. Rio Grande ranked 1st in 1991-2000 and 1st in 2001-2014. There was no ranking in 1975 and 1976-1990 due to unavailable data.

Rio Grande and Argentina do not follow the same trend in the disconnectivity of their street network constructions. There was not enough data from the city, while the SNDi of street constructions in Argentina rose steadily.

How do development practices in Rio Grande fare in comparison to others in Argentina? Most recently in 2001-2014, street construction in Rio Grande was the 55th-most disconnected out of the 70 cities in Argentina. Its position in the ranks since 1975 has risen; relative to other cities in Argentina, street construction in Rio Grande has become more disconnected. Rio Grande ranked 63rd in 1991-2000 and 55th in 2001-2014. There was no ranking in 1975 and 1976-1990 due to unavailable data.

Rio Grande and Tierra del Fuego do not follow the same trend in the disconnectivity of their aggregate street networks. There was not enough data from the city, while the SNDi of street constructions in Tierra del Fuego followed a zig-zag trend with an overall increase.

To date, Rio Grande is the 1st-most disconnected out of the 1 cities in Tierra del Fuego. Its position in the ranks since 1975 has not changed. Rio Grande ranked 1st in 1991-2000 and 1st in 2001-2014. There was no ranking in 1975 and 1976-1990 due to unavailable data.

Rio Grande and Argentina do not follow the same trend in the disconnectivity of their aggregate street networks. There was not enough data from the city, while the SNDi of street constructions in Argentina rose steadily.

To date, Rio Grande is the 57th-most disconnected out of the 70 cities in Argentina. Its position in the ranks since 1975 has risen; relative to other cities in Argentina, the street network in Rio Grande has become more disconnected. Rio Grande ranked 62nd in 1991-2000 and 57th in 2001-2014. There was no ranking in 1975 and 1976-1990 due to unavailable data.

As of 2015, Rio Grande had a built-up area of 0.78 square kilometers, and a population of 55765 people.

These are some other cities with approximately the same population: