Street-network Sprawl in Abu 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.

Abu Road: city in Rajasthan, 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 Abu Road, India on the sprawlmap

Most recent snapshot: Taking into account the entire (i.e. aggregate) street network in Abu Road as of 2014, the overall level of street-network sprawl is 1.93, which is relatively well-connected.

Trends in street network construction: The SNDis of street construction for the respective time periods are nan, 0.16, nan and 2.34. Data was not available in 1975 and 1991-2000.

Quantity of street network construction: The street network in Abu Road spans a total of 91 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, 0.3, -0.0 and 1.93. Data was not available in 1975.

Abu Road and Rajasthan 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 Rajasthan rose steadily.

How do development practices in Abu Road fare in comparison to others in Rajasthan? Most recently in 2001-2014, street construction in Abu Road was the 46th-most disconnected out of the 135 cities in Rajasthan. Abu Road ranked 76th in 1976-1990 and 46th in 2001-2014. There was no ranking in 1975 and 1991-2000 due to unavailable data.

Abu 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 Abu Road fare in comparison to others in India? Most recently in 2001-2014, street construction in Abu Road was the 814th-most disconnected out of the 1716 cities in India. Abu Road ranked 1101st in 1976-1990 and 814th in 2001-2014. There was no ranking in 1975 and 1991-2000 due to unavailable data.

Abu Road and Rajasthan 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 Rajasthan rose steadily.

To date, Abu Road is the 52nd-most disconnected out of the 135 cities in Rajasthan. Its position in the ranks since 1975 has risen; relative to other cities in Rajasthan, the street network in Abu Road has become more disconnected. Abu Road ranked 79th in 1976-1990, 91st in 1991-2000 and 52nd in 2001-2014. There was no ranking in 1975 due to unavailable data.

Abu Road 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, Abu Road is the 1041st-most disconnected out of the 1716 cities in India. Its position in the ranks since 1975 has risen; relative to other cities in India, the street network in Abu Road has become more disconnected. Abu Road ranked 1219th in 1976-1990, 1407th in 1991-2000 and 1041st in 2001-2014. There was no ranking in 1975 due to unavailable data.

As of 2015, Abu Road had a built-up area of 2.35 square kilometers, and a population of 139620 people.

These are some other cities with approximately the same population: