Balancing Development and Sustainability: Lessons from Roadbuilding in Mountainous Asia
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Case Studies
2.1. Mountain Road Development in Northwest Yunnan, China
2.2. The One Belt One Road Initiative in Central Asia
2.3. The Kedarnath Disaster: Road Development and Risk
3. Discussion
4. Closing Remarks
Author Contributions
Funding
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Study Area | Road Planning Issues | Road Construction Issues | Environmental and Socioeconomic Issues | Potential Measures for Reducing Impacts |
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Northwest Yunnan Province, China; UNESCO “Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan Protected Areas” | Lacking attention to environmental issues in road location. Spur roads located on steep slopes adjacent to channels. Most spur roads serve only one use. Lack of coordination between local and national goals. Better inclusion of local stakeholder priorities. Poor post-construction follow-up of road-related problems. | Excessive excavation into steep unstable slopes. Poor or a lack of road drainage measures. Uncontrolled blasting during construction. Excavated materials pushed downslope, often entering streams. Poor construction causes ongoing maintenance. Unpaved surfaces are not ‘rocked’. Few if any protection measures for streams. | Frequent landslides on cut and fill slopes and intense erosion from road surfaces during storms, with sediments reaching streams. Road access issues during landslide clearing. Degraded water quality and aquatic habitats. Accidents along roads due to landslides. Potential for debris flows and floods in major channels due to heavy sediment inputs. Degraded landslide scars. Down-river impacts on trans-national livelihoods. Abandoned road-building projects due to extensive landslides. | Plan and design road systems for long-term multiuse and construct accordingly. Avoid deep cuts and blasting into unstable substrate. Design ridgetop and valley bottom roads where feasible. Minimize crossing wet areas and old or dormant landslides. Implement proper road drainage measures and ongoing road maintenance. Plant deep-rooted woody vegetation in road fills. Carefully consider all costs and benefits of new and updated road construction. Use multi-criteria decision analysis to achieve optimal economic, social, and environmental tradeoffs for roads. |
Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in Central Asia (emphasis in Tajik Pamir) | In Central Asia, the BRI has deficient environmental impact assessments in place. Short-term planning goals relegating low priority to environmental issues. Inadequate attention paid to multiple hazards along road corridors. Few options for road building in stable sites. Little concern by the Tajik government for BRI externalities affecting mountain residents. No inclusion of Tajik locals in BRI planning. Ignoring the potential effects of spur road development off the BRI for international resource exploitation. | Blasting associated with expansion and construction of existing and new roads in the Pamir causes rockfalls and landslides. No attention to road drainage. Blasted rocks and soil are pushed into the Panj River system. Few countermeasures installed for rockfall, landslide, and avalanche control. Road access issues during construction Priorities for road upgrades often do not reach mountain communities. Road surfaces left in a poor condition. Noise and dust pollution in neighboring villages. | Travel disruptions, injuries, and fatalities due to rockfalls, avalanches, and landslides along new and widened roads. Exploitation of natural resources and hydropower in the Pamir to benefit external nations. Lack of local employment opportunities in the BRI. Disrupting traditional land management practices. Future governmental debt dependencies to China. Forfeiture of mining and land rights. Implicit compliance with pro-China policies and allowing Chinese military practices on Tajik territories. Vector-based disease spread to remote villages. The Tajik government prioritizes short-term economic gains via trade over long-term environmental sustainability. | Employ best management practices for road location and construction, e.g., minimize blasting and excavation into unstable substrates, install road drainage networks, regularly maintain roads, avoid wet areas (if possible), reduce connectivity of road runoff with surface waters, and exercise care if crossing debris fans. Use available hazard models and evaluations to aid in road location plans and prevention measures. Prioritize long-term sustainability over short-term economic gain via transparent cost/benefit and life-cycle analyses. Limit the expansion of mountain roads to areas that benefit the locals. Institute noise and dust control measures near villages. Governments must negotiate strongly with the BRI to ensure local employment and environmental benefits. |
Kedarnath Temple disaster, Uttarakhand, India | Improved road access caused unsustainable tourism in a very hazardous mountain area. Failure to link road access to over-crowding as well as disaster risk reduction and assessments. Highly commercial development in vulnerable areas exacerbated by road and tourism expansion. | Expanded road systems greatly contributed to the flood and cascading sediment disaster by facilitating overcrowding. Road ‘improvements’ did not consider linkages with upslope landslides and debris flows that exacerbate flood conditions. | Thousands of religious tourists and their support staff on pilgrimage were killed. About 70,000 religious tourists and 100,000 locals were stranded in the disaster area with few resources. Huge damage to properties and environmental attributes. The government failed to balance cultural and economic benefits against sustainability and disaster risk reduction. Inadequate planning and facilities for increased levels of tourism. | Governments need to better balance short-term economic gains against disaster risk reduction and environmental sustainability. Implement sustainable tourism protocols in hazardous regions based on available shelters, weather forecasts, and evacuation routes. Policies that view disasters as isolated unpredictable events must be modified based on scientific evidence to inform and protect human life. Early warning systems for flood and sediment hazards are urgently needed to alert tourists and residents. |
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Sidle, R.C.; Ziegler, A.D. Balancing Development and Sustainability: Lessons from Roadbuilding in Mountainous Asia. Sustainability 2025, 17, 3156. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17073156
Sidle RC, Ziegler AD. Balancing Development and Sustainability: Lessons from Roadbuilding in Mountainous Asia. Sustainability. 2025; 17(7):3156. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17073156
Chicago/Turabian StyleSidle, Roy C., and Alan D. Ziegler. 2025. "Balancing Development and Sustainability: Lessons from Roadbuilding in Mountainous Asia" Sustainability 17, no. 7: 3156. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17073156
APA StyleSidle, R. C., & Ziegler, A. D. (2025). Balancing Development and Sustainability: Lessons from Roadbuilding in Mountainous Asia. Sustainability, 17(7), 3156. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17073156