Interdisciplinary perspectives on the intersections of roads, sustainable development, and disaster resilience

Bibliographic Data

ID22025628
AuthorsEllen B Robson (0000-0002-5461-5479, Durham University), Peter Mcgowran (0000-0002-5043-6430, King's College London, corresponding author), Hanna A Ruszczyk (0000-0003-3895-4881, Durham University), Bruce D Malamud (0000-0001-8164-4825, Durham University), Edward Simpson (0000-0002-5359-8259, Lancaster University), Alexander L Densmore (0000-0003-0629-6554, Durham University), Neil Denton (Durham University), Natasha Chapplow (World Bank Group), Phurwa Gurung (0000-0002-1617-6129, University of Colorado Boulder), Tilly E Hall (0000-0002-2502-2682, Durham University), Rebekah Harries (Durham University), Jack Jenkins (0000-0001-6159-1850, Durham University), KC Apil (0000-0001-9313-040X, University of Michigan), Richard Kötter (0000-0003-2741-5620, Northumbria University), Ashutosh Kumar (0000-0002-0405-8096, Indian Institute of Technology Mandi), Bina Limbu (Northumbria University), David Milledge (0000-0003-4077-4898, Newcastle University), G Porter (0000-0002-3672-1534, Durham University), Nick Rosser (0000-0002-1435-2512, Durham University), Faith Taylor (0000-0001-7971-5049, King's College London), Faith E Taylor, David Geoffrey Toll (0000-0002-9440-9960), M G Winter (0000-0003-3148-619X), Kifle Woldearegay (0000-0003-3208-3544)
Year2025
Volume128
Pages105691
Publication date2025-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2212-4209
PublisherElsevier BV (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1016/j.ijdrr.2025.105691
OpenAlexW4412489791
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited82

Natural hazard-influenced disasters, sustainable development, and roads are closely intertwined. Governments and funding agencies worldwide are increasingly focused on delivering disaster-resilient road infrastructure. However, the multifaceted, ubiquitous, and contested nature of road networks means that making them resilient to disasters is a complex task. Efforts to build resilient roads generate trade-offs against other policy goals like climate resilience and sustainable development, and always carry political implications. In this paper, we synthesise discussions that took place during a one-day hybrid workshop on the intersections between roads, development and disaster resilience with 50 practitioners, policymakers, and physical and social scientists from around the world with expertise in relevant fields. Two key themes emerged: (i) the political ecology of the resilience of road networks and (ii) the key players and politics surrounding road construction and maintenance. Through synthesising workshop discussions with contemporary literature, we present working definitions of disaster resilience for these two themes to help shape future interdisciplinary research on road disaster resilience.When thinking through the theme of political ecology, road disaster resilience is understood within the context of uneven power dynamics and the political work done by applying a resilience lens to the research objects in question. When thinking through key road players and politics, road disaster resilience is understood to emerge from the relationships between financers, knowledge holders, and those with ownership over the road. In synthesising key themes, we ultimately develop the concept of “roads-in-relation” as a framing device for future interdisciplinary road disaster resilience research that crosscuts these key themes

Environmental planning · Environmental resource management · Political science · Sustainable development · Disaster Management and Resilience · Engineering · Environmental Science · Infrastructure Resilience and Vulnerability Analysis · Supply Chain Resilience and Risk Management