Street-network Sprawl in Ulongué, Mozambique

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.

Ulongué: city in Tete, Mozambique

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 Ulongué, Mozambique on the sprawlmap

Most recent snapshot: Taking into account the entire (i.e. aggregate) street network in Ulongué as of 2014, the overall level of street-network sprawl is 0.21, which is very well-connected.

Trends in street network construction: The SNDis of street construction for the respective time periods are -0.24, -0.33, nan and 0.4. Data was not available in 1991-2000.

Quantity of street network construction: The street network in Ulongué spans a total of 56 kilometers. It is dominated by roads constructed in 2001-2014. These roads have an SNDi of 0.4, 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 -0.24, -0.25, -0.14 and 0.21. The SNDi of the aggregate street network in fell at first, but Ulongué has worsened in disconnectivity since 1990.

Ulongué and Tete 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 Tete peaked in 1976-1990.

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

Ulongué and Mozambique 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 Mozambique was at its lowest in 1976-1990.

How do development practices in Ulongué fare in comparison to others in Mozambique? Most recently in 2001-2014, street construction in Ulongué was the 40th-most disconnected out of the 57 cities in Mozambique. Its position in the ranks since 1975 has fallen; relative to other cities in Mozambique, street construction in Ulongué has become more connected. Ulongué ranked 32nd in 1975, 40th in 1976-1990 and 40th in 2001-2014. There was no ranking in 1991-2000 due to unavailable data.

Ulongué and Tete do not follow the same trend in the disconnectivity of their aggregate street networks. The SNDi in Ulongué was at its lowest in 1976-1990, while the SNDi of street constructions in Tete peaked in 1991-2000.

To date, Ulongué is the 4th-most disconnected out of the 6 cities in Tete. Its position in the ranks since 1975 has fallen; relative to other cities in Tete, the street network in Ulongué has become more connected. Ulongué ranked 3rd in 1975, 4th in 1976-1990, 4th in 1991-2000 and 4th in 2001-2014.

Ulongué and Mozambique follow the same trend in the disconnectivity of their aggregate street networks. The SNDi for both of these was at its lowest in 1976-1990.

To date, Ulongué is the 47th-most disconnected out of the 57 cities in Mozambique. Its position in the ranks since 1975 has fallen; relative to other cities in Mozambique, the street network in Ulongué has become more connected. Ulongué ranked 32nd in 1975, 42nd in 1976-1990, 44th in 1991-2000 and 47th in 2001-2014.

As of 2015, Ulongué had a built-up area of 0.73 square kilometers, and a population of 82470 people.

These are some other cities with approximately the same population: