Street-network Sprawl in San Juan de la Maguana, Dominican Republic

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.

San Juan de la Maguana: city in San Juan, Dominican Republic

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 San Juan de la Maguana, Dominican Republic on the sprawlmap

Most recent snapshot: Taking into account the entire (i.e. aggregate) street network in San Juan de la Maguana as of 2014, the overall level of street-network sprawl is 1.19, which is relatively well-connected.

Trends in street network construction: The SNDis of street construction for the respective time periods are 0.55, 1.56, 1.2 and 1.22. Disconnectivity in street construction in San Juan de la Maguana follows a zig-zag trend. In 1975, street construction was most disconnected, while construction was most connected in 1976-1990.

Quantity of street network construction: The street network in San Juan de la Maguana spans a total of 185 kilometers. The period with the greatest volume of street construction was 1976-1990. These roads have an SNDi of 1.56, which is relatively 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 0.55, 1.17, 1.18 and 1.19. Overall, the SNDi of the aggregate street network has risen: the street network in San Juan de la Maguana has become more disconnected. This increase has slowed: between 1975 and 1976-1990, SNDi rose by 0.62 points, but between 1991-2000 and 2001-2014, it rose by just 0.01.

San Juan de la Maguana and San Juan do not follow the same trend in the disconnectivity of their street network constructions. The SNDi in San Juan de la Maguana followed a zig-zag trend with an overall increase, while the SNDi of street constructions in San Juan rose steadily.

How do development practices in San Juan de la Maguana fare in comparison to others in San Juan? Most recently in 2001-2014, street construction in San Juan de la Maguana was the 1st-most disconnected out of the 1 cities in San Juan. Its position in the ranks since 1975 has not changed. San Juan de la Maguana ranked 1st in 1975, 1st in 1976-1990, 1st in 1991-2000 and 1st in 2001-2014.

San Juan de la Maguana and Dominican Republic follow the same trend in the disconnectivity of their street network constructions. The SNDi for both of these followed a zig-zag trend with an overall increase.

How do development practices in San Juan de la Maguana fare in comparison to others in Dominican Republic? Most recently in 2001-2014, street construction in San Juan de la Maguana was the 14th-most disconnected out of the 16 cities in Dominican Republic. Its position in the ranks since 1975 has fallen; relative to other cities in Dominican Republic, street construction in San Juan de la Maguana has become more connected. San Juan de la Maguana ranked 10th in 1975, 10th in 1976-1990, 12th in 1991-2000 and 14th in 2001-2014.

San Juan de la Maguana and San Juan follow the same trend in the disconnectivity of their aggregate street networks. The SNDi for both of these rose steadily.

To date, San Juan de la Maguana is the 1st-most disconnected out of the 1 cities in San Juan. Its position in the ranks since 1975 has not changed. San Juan de la Maguana ranked 1st in 1975, 1st in 1976-1990, 1st in 1991-2000 and 1st in 2001-2014.

San Juan de la Maguana and Dominican Republic follow the same trend in the disconnectivity of their aggregate street networks. The SNDi for both of these rose steadily.

To date, San Juan de la Maguana is the 10th-most disconnected out of the 16 cities in Dominican Republic. Its position in the ranks since 1975 has not changed. San Juan de la Maguana ranked 10th in 1975, 9th in 1976-1990, 10th in 1991-2000 and 10th in 2001-2014.

As of 2015, San Juan de la Maguana had a built-up area of 4.69 square kilometers, and a population of 75693 people.

These are some other cities with approximately the same population: