Street-network Sprawl in Sadat City, Egypt

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.

Sadat City: city in Al Minufiyah, Egypt

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 Sadat City, Egypt on the sprawlmap

Most recent snapshot: Taking into account the entire (i.e. aggregate) street network in Sadat City as of 2014, the overall level of street-network sprawl is 2.52, which is in the 40th to 60th percentile of disconnectedness.

Trends in street network construction: The SNDis of street construction for the respective time periods are nan, 2.52, 2.31 and 3.06. Data was not available in 1975.

Quantity of street network construction: The street network in Sadat City spans a total of 239 kilometers. It is dominated by roads constructed prior to 1975. These roads have an SNDi of nan, which is highly disconnected.

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, 2.52, 2.34 and 2.52. Data was not available in 1975.

Sadat City and Al Minufiyah 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 Al Minufiyah followed a zig-zag trend with an overall decrease.

How do development practices in Sadat City fare in comparison to others in Al Minufiyah? Most recently in 2001-2014, street construction in Sadat City was the 8th-most disconnected out of the 12 cities in Al Minufiyah. Its position in the ranks since 1975 has risen; relative to other cities in Al Minufiyah, street construction in Sadat City has become more disconnected. Sadat City ranked 11th in 1976-1990, 2nd in 1991-2000 and 8th in 2001-2014. There was no ranking in 1975 due to unavailable data.

Sadat City and Egypt 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 Egypt followed a zig-zag trend with an overall increase.

How do development practices in Sadat City fare in comparison to others in Egypt? Most recently in 2001-2014, street construction in Sadat City was the 59th-most disconnected out of the 170 cities in Egypt. Its position in the ranks since 1975 has risen; relative to other cities in Egypt, street construction in Sadat City has become more disconnected. Sadat City ranked 82nd in 1976-1990, 54th in 1991-2000 and 59th in 2001-2014. There was no ranking in 1975 due to unavailable data.

Sadat City and Al Minufiyah 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 Al Minufiyah peaked in 1976-1990.

To date, Sadat City is the 12th-most disconnected out of the 12 cities in Al Minufiyah. Its position in the ranks since 1975 has not changed. Sadat City ranked 12th in 1976-1990, 12th in 1991-2000 and 12th in 2001-2014. There was no ranking in 1975 due to unavailable data.

Sadat City and Egypt 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 Egypt was at its lowest in 1976-1990.

To date, Sadat City is the 106th-most disconnected out of the 170 cities in Egypt. Its position in the ranks since 1975 has fallen; relative to other cities in Egypt, the street network in Sadat City has become more connected. Sadat City ranked 105th in 1976-1990, 109th in 1991-2000 and 106th in 2001-2014. There was no ranking in 1975 due to unavailable data.

As of 2015, Sadat City had a built-up area of 5.23 square kilometers, and a population of 75376 people.

These are some other cities with approximately the same population: