Street-network Sprawl in Ponce, Puerto Rico

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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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Ponce: city in Puerto Rico

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 Ponce, Puerto Rico on the sprawlmap

How have Ponce's street networks changed over time?

Most recent snapshot: Taking into account the entire (i.e. aggregate) street network in Ponce as of 2014, the overall level of street-network sprawl is 3.53, which is highly disconnected.

Trends in street network construction: The SNDis of street construction for the respective time periods are 3.25, 5.31, 5.8 and 4.95. Street construction in Ponce 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 Ponce spans a total of 682 kilometers. It is dominated by roads constructed prior to 1975. These roads have an SNDi of 3.25, which is in the 40th to 60th percentile of disconnectedness.

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 3.25, 3.42, 3.51 and 3.53. Overall, the SNDi of the aggregate street network has risen: the street network in Ponce has become more disconnected. This increase has slowed: between 1975 and 1976-1990, SNDi rose by 0.17 points, but between 1991-2000 and 2001-2014, it rose by just 0.02.

Ponce in context: Street-network sprawl of new development

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

How do development practices in Ponce fare in comparison to others in Ponce? Most recently in 2001-2014, street construction in Ponce was the 1st-most disconnected out of the 1 cities in Ponce. Its position in the ranks since 1975 has not changed. Ponce ranked 1st in 1975, 1st in 1976-1990, 1st in 1991-2000 and 1st in 2001-2014.

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

How do development practices in Ponce fare in comparison to others in Puerto Rico? Most recently in 2001-2014, street construction in Ponce was the 3rd-most disconnected out of the 3 cities in Puerto Rico. Its position in the ranks since 1975 has not changed. Ponce ranked 3rd in 1975, 3rd in 1976-1990, 3rd in 1991-2000 and 3rd in 2001-2014.

Ponce in context: Aggregate street-network sprawl

Ponce and Ponce follow the same trend in the disconnectivity of their aggregate street networks. The SNDi for both of these rose steadily.

To date, Ponce is the 1st-most disconnected out of the 1 cities in Ponce. Its position in the ranks since 1975 has not changed. Ponce ranked 1st in 1975, 1st in 1976-1990, 1st in 1991-2000 and 1st in 2001-2014.

Ponce and Puerto Rico follow the same trend in the disconnectivity of their aggregate street networks. The SNDi for both of these rose steadily.

To date, Ponce is the 3rd-most disconnected out of the 3 cities in Puerto Rico. Its position in the ranks since 1975 has not changed. Ponce ranked 3rd in 1975, 3rd in 1976-1990, 3rd in 1991-2000 and 3rd in 2001-2014.

What about other similarly-populated cities?

As of 2015, Ponce had a built-up area of 40.42 square kilometers, and a population of 111468 people.

These are some other cities with approximately the same population:

• Mopeia, Mozambique
• Sancti Spiritus, Cuba
• Ikot Akpanata, Nigeria