Street-network Sprawl in Dire Dawa, Ethiopia

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.

Dire Dawa: city in Ethiopia

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 Dire Dawa, Ethiopia on the sprawlmap

Most recent snapshot: Taking into account the entire (i.e. aggregate) street network in Dire Dawa as of 2014, the overall level of street-network sprawl is 2.44, 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 4.45, 1.93, nan and 2.62. Data was not available in 1991-2000.

Quantity of street network construction: The street network in Dire Dawa spans a total of 457 kilometers. It is dominated by roads constructed in 2001-2014. These roads have an SNDi of 2.62, which is in the 40th to 60th percentile of disconnectedness.

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 4.45, 2.29, 2.29 and 2.44. The SNDi of the aggregate street network in fell at first, but Dire Dawa has worsened in disconnectivity since 1990.

Dire Dawa and Dire Dawa 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 Dire Dawa's street network construction.

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

Dire Dawa and Ethiopia 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 Ethiopia followed a zig-zag trend with an overall increase.

How do development practices in Dire Dawa fare in comparison to others in Ethiopia? Most recently in 2001-2014, street construction in Dire Dawa was the 51st-most disconnected out of the 252 cities in Ethiopia. Its position in the ranks since 1975 has fallen; relative to other cities in Ethiopia, street construction in Dire Dawa has become more connected. Dire Dawa ranked 3rd in 1975, 21st in 1976-1990 and 51st in 2001-2014. There was no ranking in 1991-2000 due to unavailable data.

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

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

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

To date, Dire Dawa is the 57th-most disconnected out of the 252 cities in Ethiopia. Its position in the ranks since 1975 has fallen; relative to other cities in Ethiopia, the street network in Dire Dawa has become more connected. Dire Dawa ranked 3rd in 1975, 16th in 1976-1990, 25th in 1991-2000 and 57th in 2001-2014.

As of 2015, Dire Dawa had a built-up area of 13.31 square kilometers, and a population of 432119 people.

These are some other cities with approximately the same population: