Cape Town: city in Western Cape, South Africa
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 Cape Town, South Africa on the sprawlmap
Most recent snapshot: Taking into account the entire (i.e. aggregate) street network in Cape Town as of 2014, the overall level of street-network sprawl is 3.7, which is highly disconnected.
Trends in street network construction: The SNDis of street construction for the respective time periods are 3.45, 3.77, 5.83 and 4.78. Street construction in Cape Town 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 Cape Town spans a total of 8785 kilometers. It is dominated by roads constructed prior to 1975. These roads have an SNDi of 3.45, 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 3.45, 3.58, 3.67 and 3.7. Overall, the SNDi of the aggregate street network has risen: the street network in Cape Town has become more disconnected. This increase has slowed: between 1975 and 1976-1990, SNDi rose by 0.13 points, but between 1991-2000 and 2001-2014, it rose by just 0.03.
Cape Town and Western Cape follow the same trend in the disconnectivity of their street network constructions. The SNDi for both of these peaked in 1991-2000.
How do development practices in Cape Town fare in comparison to others in Western Cape? Most recently in 2001-2014, street construction in Cape Town was the 4th-most disconnected out of the 9 cities in Western Cape. Its position in the ranks since 1975 has fallen; relative to other cities in Western Cape, street construction in Cape Town has become more connected. Cape Town ranked 3rd in 1975, 5th in 1976-1990, 3rd in 1991-2000 and 4th in 2001-2014.
Cape Town and South Africa do not follow the same trend in the disconnectivity of their street network constructions. The SNDi in Cape Town peaked in 1991-2000, while the SNDi of street constructions in South Africa followed a zig-zag trend with an overall increase.
How do development practices in Cape Town fare in comparison to others in South Africa? Most recently in 2001-2014, street construction in Cape Town was the 24th-most disconnected out of the 77 cities in South Africa. Its position in the ranks since 1975 has fallen; relative to other cities in South Africa, street construction in Cape Town has become more connected. Cape Town ranked 11th in 1975, 28th in 1976-1990, 13th in 1991-2000 and 24th in 2001-2014.
Cape Town and Western Cape follow the same trend in the disconnectivity of their aggregate street networks. The SNDi for both of these rose steadily.
To date, Cape Town is the 6th-most disconnected out of the 9 cities in Western Cape. Its position in the ranks since 1975 has fallen; relative to other cities in Western Cape, the street network in Cape Town has become more connected. Cape Town ranked 3rd in 1975, 5th in 1976-1990, 6th in 1991-2000 and 6th in 2001-2014.
Cape Town and South Africa follow the same trend in the disconnectivity of their aggregate street networks. The SNDi for both of these rose steadily.
To date, Cape Town is the 23rd-most disconnected out of the 77 cities in South Africa. Its position in the ranks since 1975 has fallen; relative to other cities in South Africa, the street network in Cape Town has become more connected. Cape Town ranked 11th in 1975, 24th in 1976-1990, 22nd in 1991-2000 and 23rd in 2001-2014.
As of 2015, Cape Town had a built-up area of 388.14 square kilometers, and a population of 3511853 people.
These are some other cities with approximately the same population: