Street-network Sprawl in Bilaspur, India

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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:

• nodal degree
• dendricity, the tree-likeness of the street network
• circuity, the ratio of the distance by road to the straight-line distance of two locations on the street network
• sinuosity, the curviness of a street

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:

• Global trends toward urban street-network sprawl
• A global assessment of street-network sprawl

To see the state of street-network sprawl across the globe, visit the sprawlmap.

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Bilaspur: city in Uttar Pradesh, 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 Bilaspur, India on the sprawlmap

How have Bilaspur's street networks changed over time?

Most recent snapshot: Taking into account the entire (i.e. aggregate) street network in Bilaspur as of 2014, the overall level of street-network sprawl is 4.26, which is highly disconnected.

Trends in street network construction: The SNDis of street construction for the respective time periods are 2.95, 4.55, 5.84 and 4.16. Street construction in Bilaspur increased in disconnectivity initially but has since improved. The streets constructed in 1991-2000 were the most disconnected.

Quantity of street network construction: The street network in Bilaspur spans a total of 58 kilometers. The period with the greatest volume of street construction was 1991-2000. These roads have an SNDi of 5.84, 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 2.95, 3.44, 4.3 and 4.26. The aggregate street network in Bilaspur increased in disconnectivity initially,but the trend has turned around after 2000.

Bilaspur in context: Street-network sprawl of new development

Bilaspur and Uttar Pradesh do not follow the same trend in the disconnectivity of their street network constructions. The SNDi in Bilaspur peaked in 1991-2000, while the SNDi of street constructions in Uttar Pradesh rose steadily.

How do development practices in Bilaspur fare in comparison to others in Uttar Pradesh? Most recently in 2001-2014, street construction in Bilaspur was the 31st-most disconnected out of the 204 cities in Uttar Pradesh. Its position in the ranks since 1975 has risen; relative to other cities in Uttar Pradesh, street construction in Bilaspur has become more disconnected. Bilaspur ranked 34th in 1975, 19th in 1976-1990, 11th in 1991-2000 and 31st in 2001-2014.

Bilaspur and India do not follow the same trend in the disconnectivity of their street network constructions. The SNDi in Bilaspur peaked in 1991-2000, while the SNDi of street constructions in India rose steadily.

Bilaspur in context: Aggregate street-network sprawl

Bilaspur and Uttar Pradesh do not follow the same trend in the disconnectivity of their aggregate street networks. The SNDi in Bilaspur peaked in 1991-2000, while the SNDi of street constructions in Uttar Pradesh rose steadily.

To date, Bilaspur is the 34th-most disconnected out of the 204 cities in Uttar Pradesh. Its position in the ranks since 1975 has not changed. Bilaspur ranked 34th in 1975, 33rd in 1976-1990, 26th in 1991-2000 and 34th in 2001-2014.

Bilaspur and India do not follow the same trend in the disconnectivity of their aggregate street networks. The SNDi in Bilaspur peaked in 1991-2000, while the SNDi of street constructions in India rose steadily.

What about other similarly-populated cities?

As of 2015, Bilaspur had a built-up area of 1.22 square kilometers, and a population of 143551 people.

These are some other cities with approximately the same population:

• Ciudad Acuña, Mexico
• Kaltungo, Nigeria
• kazaure, Nigeria