Street-network Sprawl in Zagora, Morocco

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.

Zagora: city in Souss - Massa - Draâ, Morocco

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 Zagora, Morocco on the sprawlmap

Most recent snapshot: Taking into account the entire (i.e. aggregate) street network in Zagora as of 2014, the overall level of street-network sprawl is -0.02, which is very well-connected.

Trends in street network construction: The SNDis of street construction for the respective time periods are 1.08, -0.72, nan and -0.51. Data was not available in 1991-2000.

Quantity of street network construction: The street network in Zagora spans a total of 57 kilometers. It is dominated by roads constructed in 2001-2014. These roads have an SNDi of -0.51, which is very well-connected.

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 1.08, 0.49, 0.49 and -0.02. Overall, the SNDi of the aggregate street network has fallen: the street network in Zagora has become more connected.

Zagora and Souss - Massa - Draâ 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 Souss - Massa - Draâ followed a zig-zag trend with an overall increase.

How do development practices in Zagora fare in comparison to others in Souss - Massa - Draâ? Most recently in 2001-2014, street construction in Zagora was the 4th-most disconnected out of the 6 cities in Souss - Massa - Draâ. Its position in the ranks since 1975 has fallen; relative to other cities in Souss - Massa - Draâ, street construction in Zagora has become more connected. Zagora ranked 3rd in 1975, 5th in 1976-1990 and 4th in 2001-2014. There was no ranking in 1991-2000 due to unavailable data.

Zagora and Morocco 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 Morocco rose steadily.

How do development practices in Zagora fare in comparison to others in Morocco? Most recently in 2001-2014, street construction in Zagora was the 54th-most disconnected out of the 61 cities in Morocco. Its position in the ranks since 1975 has fallen; relative to other cities in Morocco, street construction in Zagora has become more connected. Zagora ranked 27th in 1975, 57th in 1976-1990 and 54th in 2001-2014. There was no ranking in 1991-2000 due to unavailable data.

Zagora and Souss - Massa - Draâ do not follow the same trend in the disconnectivity of their aggregate street networks. The SNDi in Zagora fell steadily, while the SNDi of street constructions in Souss - Massa - Draâ was at its lowest in 1976-1990.

To date, Zagora is the 6th-most disconnected out of the 6 cities in Souss - Massa - Draâ. Its position in the ranks since 1975 has fallen; relative to other cities in Souss - Massa - Draâ, the street network in Zagora has become more connected. Zagora ranked 3rd in 1975, 6th in 1976-1990, 6th in 1991-2000 and 6th in 2001-2014.

Zagora and Morocco do not follow the same trend in the disconnectivity of their aggregate street networks. The SNDi in Zagora fell steadily, while the SNDi of street constructions in Morocco rose steadily.

To date, Zagora is the 59th-most disconnected out of the 61 cities in Morocco. Its position in the ranks since 1975 has fallen; relative to other cities in Morocco, the street network in Zagora has become more connected. Zagora ranked 27th in 1975, 54th in 1976-1990, 54th in 1991-2000 and 59th in 2001-2014.

As of 2015, Zagora had a built-up area of 1.48 square kilometers, and a population of 50536 people.

These are some other cities with approximately the same population: