Street-network Sprawl in Bantwal Cross Road, 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.

Bantwal Cross Road: city in Karnataka, 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 Bantwal Cross Road, India on the sprawlmap

Most recent snapshot: Taking into account the entire (i.e. aggregate) street network in Bantwal Cross Road as of 2014, the overall level of street-network sprawl is 4.58, which is highly disconnected.

Trends in street network construction: The SNDis of street construction for the respective time periods are 4.96, 3.21, nan and 5.16. Data was not available in 1991-2000.

Quantity of street network construction: The street network in Bantwal Cross Road spans a total of 92 kilometers. It is dominated by roads constructed in 2001-2014. These roads have an SNDi of 5.16, 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 4.96, 4.51, 4.46 and 4.58. The SNDi of the aggregate street network in fell at first, but Bantwal Cross Road has worsened in disconnectivity since 2000.

Bantwal Cross Road and Karnataka 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 Karnataka rose steadily.

How do development practices in Bantwal Cross Road fare in comparison to others in Karnataka? Most recently in 2001-2014, street construction in Bantwal Cross Road was the 12th-most disconnected out of the 147 cities in Karnataka. Its position in the ranks since 1975 has fallen; relative to other cities in Karnataka, street construction in Bantwal Cross Road has become more connected. Bantwal Cross Road ranked 6th in 1975, 24th in 1976-1990 and 12th in 2001-2014. There was no ranking in 1991-2000 due to unavailable data.

Bantwal Cross Road 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 Bantwal Cross Road fare in comparison to others in India? Most recently in 2001-2014, street construction in Bantwal Cross Road was the 209th-most disconnected out of the 1716 cities in India. Its position in the ranks since 1975 has fallen; relative to other cities in India, street construction in Bantwal Cross Road has become more connected. Bantwal Cross Road ranked 83rd in 1975, 393rd in 1976-1990 and 209th in 2001-2014. There was no ranking in 1991-2000 due to unavailable data.

Bantwal Cross Road and Karnataka do not follow the same trend in the disconnectivity of their aggregate street networks. The SNDi in Bantwal Cross Road was at its lowest in 1991-2000, while the SNDi of street constructions in Karnataka rose steadily.

To date, Bantwal Cross Road is the 6th-most disconnected out of the 147 cities in Karnataka. Its position in the ranks since 1975 has not changed. Bantwal Cross Road ranked 6th in 1975, 8th in 1976-1990, 6th in 1991-2000 and 6th in 2001-2014.

Bantwal Cross Road and India do not follow the same trend in the disconnectivity of their aggregate street networks. The SNDi in Bantwal Cross Road was at its lowest in 1991-2000, while the SNDi of street constructions in India rose steadily.

To date, Bantwal Cross Road is the 181st-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 Bantwal Cross Road has become more connected. Bantwal Cross Road ranked 83rd in 1975, 143rd in 1976-1990, 169th in 1991-2000 and 181st in 2001-2014.

As of 2015, Bantwal Cross Road had a built-up area of 5.03 square kilometers, and a population of 185349 people.

These are some other cities with approximately the same population: