Street-network Sprawl in Parola, 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.

Parola: city in Maharashtra, 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 Parola, India on the sprawlmap

Most recent snapshot: Taking into account the entire (i.e. aggregate) street network in Parola as of 2014, the overall level of street-network sprawl is 0.71, which is relatively well-connected.

Trends in street network construction: The SNDis of street construction for the respective time periods are 1.62, 0.2, nan and nan. Data was not available in 1991-2000 and 2001-2014.

Quantity of street network construction: The street network in Parola spans a total of 118 kilometers. It is dominated by roads constructed in 2001-2014. 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 1.62, 0.2, 0.58 and 0.71. The SNDi of the aggregate street network in fell at first, but Parola has worsened in disconnectivity since 1990.

Parola and Maharashtra 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 Maharashtra rose steadily.

How do development practices in Parola fare in comparison to others in Maharashtra? out of the 186 cities in Maharashtra. Its position in the ranks since 1975 has fallen; relative to other cities in Maharashtra, street construction in Parola has become more connected. Parola ranked 52nd in 1975 and 106th in 1976-1990. There was no ranking in 1991-2000 and 2001-2014 due to unavailable data.

Parola 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 Parola fare in comparison to others in India? 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 Parola has become more connected. Parola ranked 556th in 1975 and 1095th in 1976-1990. There was no ranking in 1991-2000 and 2001-2014 due to unavailable data.

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

To date, Parola is the 149th-most disconnected out of the 186 cities in Maharashtra. Its position in the ranks since 1975 has fallen; relative to other cities in Maharashtra, the street network in Parola has become more connected. Parola ranked 52nd in 1975, 139th in 1976-1990, 145th in 1991-2000 and 149th in 2001-2014.

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

To date, Parola is the 1376th-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 Parola has become more connected. Parola ranked 556th in 1975, 1242nd in 1976-1990, 1289th in 1991-2000 and 1376th in 2001-2014.

As of 2015, Parola had a built-up area of 1.43 square kilometers, and a population of 52423 people.

These are some other cities with approximately the same population: