Abstract
The road network that connects cities with the existing road infrastructure of a country is a valuable tool for analyzing its transport routes, connectivity, and urban patterns. Yet, it is challenging to construct, given the data available.•We present a method to construct a simplified and connected urban network. Some network nodes are cities, and others are "transport nodes" representing road crossings or other types of infrastructure.•The result is a simplified connected network of all cities and the existing road infrastructure that maintains road distances and available routes.•The procedure reduces millions of spatial points that sometimes are disconnected polygonal lines or patches into a connected network with only a few edges and nodes.