Street-network Sprawl in Parsa, India

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.

Parsa: city in Bihar, India

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 Parsa, India on the sprawlmap

Most recent snapshot: Taking into account the entire (i.e. aggregate) street network in Parsa as of 2014, the overall level of street-network sprawl is -0.72, which is very well-connected.

Trends in street network construction: The SNDis of street construction for the respective time periods are nan, -0.76, nan and -0.87. Data was not available in 1975 and 1991-2000.

Quantity of street network construction: The street network in Parsa spans a total of 36 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, -0.76, -0.76 and -0.72. Data was not available in 1975.

Parsa and Bihar 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 Bihar followed a zig-zag trend with an overall increase.

How do development practices in Parsa fare in comparison to others in Bihar? Most recently in 2001-2014, street construction in Parsa was the 66th-most disconnected out of the 120 cities in Bihar. Parsa ranked 86th in 1976-1990 and 66th in 2001-2014. There was no ranking in 1975 and 1991-2000 due to unavailable data.

Parsa and India 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 India rose steadily.

How do development practices in Parsa fare in comparison to others in India? Most recently in 2001-2014, street construction in Parsa was the 1226th-most disconnected out of the 1716 cities in India. Parsa ranked 1201st in 1976-1990 and 1226th in 2001-2014. There was no ranking in 1975 and 1991-2000 due to unavailable data.

Parsa and Bihar 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 Bihar rose steadily.

To date, Parsa is the 110th-most disconnected out of the 120 cities in Bihar. Its position in the ranks since 1975 has fallen; relative to other cities in Bihar, the street network in Parsa has become more connected. Parsa ranked 92nd in 1976-1990, 100th in 1991-2000 and 110th in 2001-2014. There was no ranking in 1975 due to unavailable data.

Parsa and India 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 India rose steadily.

To date, Parsa is the 1620th-most disconnected out of the 1716 cities in India. Its position in the ranks since 1975 has fallen; relative to other cities in India, the street network in Parsa has become more connected. Parsa ranked 1355th in 1976-1990, 1482nd in 1991-2000 and 1620th in 2001-2014. There was no ranking in 1975 due to unavailable data.

As of 2015, Parsa had a built-up area of 0.08 square kilometers, and a population of 73025 people.

These are some other cities with approximately the same population: