Street-network Sprawl in Morrumbala, 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.

Morrumbala: city in Zambezia, 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 Morrumbala, Mozambique on the sprawlmap

Most recent snapshot: Taking into account the entire (i.e. aggregate) street network in Morrumbala as of 2014, the overall level of street-network sprawl is -0.54, which is very well-connected.

Trends in street network construction: The SNDis of street construction for the respective time periods are nan, -0.73, 0.65 and -0.4. Data was not available in 1975.

Quantity of street network construction: The street network in Morrumbala spans a total of 74 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, -0.73, -0.57 and -0.54. Data was not available in 1975.

Morrumbala and Zambezia 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 Zambezia rose steadily.

How do development practices in Morrumbala fare in comparison to others in Zambezia? Most recently in 2001-2014, street construction in Morrumbala was the 12th-most disconnected out of the 12 cities in Zambezia. Its position in the ranks since 1975 has fallen; relative to other cities in Zambezia, street construction in Morrumbala has become more connected. Morrumbala ranked 10th in 1976-1990, 7th in 1991-2000 and 12th in 2001-2014. There was no ranking in 1975 due to unavailable data.

Morrumbala 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 Morrumbala fare in comparison to others in Mozambique? Most recently in 2001-2014, street construction in Morrumbala was the 49th-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 Morrumbala has become more connected. Morrumbala ranked 45th in 1976-1990, 31st in 1991-2000 and 49th in 2001-2014. There was no ranking in 1975 due to unavailable data.

Morrumbala and Zambezia 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 Zambezia rose steadily.

To date, Morrumbala is the 12th-most disconnected out of the 12 cities in Zambezia. Its position in the ranks since 1975 has fallen; relative to other cities in Zambezia, the street network in Morrumbala has become more connected. Morrumbala ranked 10th in 1976-1990, 10th in 1991-2000 and 12th in 2001-2014. There was no ranking in 1975 due to unavailable data.

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

To date, Morrumbala is the 55th-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 Morrumbala has become more connected. Morrumbala ranked 46th in 1976-1990, 49th in 1991-2000 and 55th in 2001-2014. There was no ranking in 1975 due to unavailable data.

As of 2015, Morrumbala had a built-up area of 0.09 square kilometers, and a population of 216873 people.

These are some other cities with approximately the same population: