Final published version
Licence: CC BY: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Interdisciplinary perspectives on the intersections of roads, sustainable development, and disaster resilience
AU - Robson, E.B.
AU - McGowran, P.
AU - Ruszczyk, H.A.
AU - Malamud, B.D.
AU - Simpson, E.
AU - Densmore, A.L.
AU - Denton, N.
AU - Chapplow, N.
AU - Gurung, P.
AU - Hall, T.E.
AU - Harries, R.
AU - Jenkins, J.
AU - Kc, A.
AU - Kotter, R.
AU - Kumar, A.
AU - Limbu, B.
AU - Milledge, D.
AU - Porter, G.
AU - Rosser, N.
AU - Taylor, F.E.
AU - Toll, D.G.
AU - Winter, M.G.
AU - Woldearegay, K.
PY - 2025/7/21
Y1 - 2025/7/21
N2 - 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.
AB - 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.
U2 - 10.1016/j.ijdrr.2025.105691
DO - 10.1016/j.ijdrr.2025.105691
M3 - Journal article
VL - 128
JO - International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction
JF - International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction
SN - 2212-4209
M1 - 105691
ER -