Street-network Sprawl in Huadian, China

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.

Huadian: city in Jilin, China

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 Huadian, China on the sprawlmap

Most recent snapshot: Taking into account the entire (i.e. aggregate) street network in Huadian as of 2014, the overall level of street-network sprawl is 0.59, which is relatively well-connected.

Trends in street network construction: The SNDis of street construction for the respective time periods are 0.16, nan, 1.06 and 3.41. Data was not available in 1976-1990.

Quantity of street network construction: The street network in Huadian spans a total of 104 kilometers. It is dominated by roads constructed prior to 1975. These roads have an SNDi of 0.16, 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 0.16, 0.13, 0.26 and 0.59. The SNDi of the aggregate street network in fell at first, but Huadian has worsened in disconnectivity since 1990.

Huadian and Jilin 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 Jilin followed a zig-zag trend with an overall decrease.

How do development practices in Huadian fare in comparison to others in Jilin? Most recently in 2001-2014, street construction in Huadian was the 8th-most disconnected out of the 42 cities in Jilin. Its position in the ranks since 1975 has risen; relative to other cities in Jilin, street construction in Huadian has become more disconnected. Huadian ranked 33rd in 1975, 11th in 1991-2000 and 8th in 2001-2014. There was no ranking in 1976-1990 due to unavailable data.

Huadian and China 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 China followed a zig-zag trend with an overall decrease.

How do development practices in Huadian fare in comparison to others in China? Most recently in 2001-2014, street construction in Huadian was the 296th-most disconnected out of the 1651 cities in China. Its position in the ranks since 1975 has risen; relative to other cities in China, street construction in Huadian has become more disconnected. Huadian ranked 1090th in 1975, 763rd in 1991-2000 and 296th in 2001-2014. There was no ranking in 1976-1990 due to unavailable data.

Huadian and Jilin do not follow the same trend in the disconnectivity of their aggregate street networks. The SNDi in Huadian was at its lowest in 1976-1990, while the SNDi of street constructions in Jilin followed a zig-zag trend with an overall decrease.

To date, Huadian is the 34th-most disconnected out of the 42 cities in Jilin. Its position in the ranks since 1975 has fallen; relative to other cities in Jilin, the street network in Huadian has become more connected. Huadian ranked 33rd in 1975, 37th in 1976-1990, 37th in 1991-2000 and 34th in 2001-2014.

Huadian and China do not follow the same trend in the disconnectivity of their aggregate street networks. The SNDi in Huadian was at its lowest in 1976-1990, while the SNDi of street constructions in China peaked in 1976-1990.

To date, Huadian is the 1404th-most disconnected out of the 1651 cities in China. Its position in the ranks since 1975 has fallen; relative to other cities in China, the street network in Huadian has become more connected. Huadian ranked 1090th in 1975, 1437th in 1976-1990, 1439th in 1991-2000 and 1404th in 2001-2014.

As of 2015, Huadian had a built-up area of 11.37 square kilometers, and a population of 134283 people.

These are some other cities with approximately the same population: