Investigation of green rural road network elements for socioeconomic development in rural areas

Sustainable development has been defined as the development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Nowadays, the implementation of green practices has become one of the most favoured methods in road construction, given that these vital infrastructure assets have a significant impact on the environment and human well-being. These impacts include alterations to the physical landscape and a negative effect on the quality of life for the surrounding communities. In Malaysia, particularly in rural areas, the networks comprise the largest proportion of roads in the country, making efficient and sustainable rural road networks even more crucial. Therefore, this study aims to identify the elements of green rural road networks that should be considered in the development of rural roads. Additionally, the study investigates the green road elements that potentially contribute to socioeconomic development in rural areas. Moreover, the absence of a specific guideline for green road development in rural areas highlights the need to address this gap through a systematic approach. This study employs five phases of methodology process in order to achieve its objectives, which include identifying the elements of green rural road networks, analysing their effectiveness and determining the significant green rural road elements that potentially contribute to socioeconomic development in rural areas. Through an intensive literature review, 32 elements for green rural road networks were identified. These elements were then presented in the form of a questionnaire. A pilot test was conducted involving 53 road experts and practitioners in Malaysia. For the main survey, a census method was applied for data collection, and a total of 63 questionnaires were successfully collected and returned out of the 119 questionnaires that were distributed. The respondents were individuals working in the field of Civil Engineering, specializing in road construction and maintenance work in Malaysia. In this study, descriptive analysis was conducted to interpret the demographic data of the respondents. Cronbach's alpha was used to determine the internal consistency of the pilot test data, and Goodman-Kruskal Gamma was employed to analyse the association between two variables in the main survey data. Subsequently, the significant elements of the green rural road network that potentially contribute to socioeconomic development were presented in the form of a framework. The validation process of the framework, based on expert views, was conducted to determine its appropriateness, comprehensiveness, simplicity, and applicability. The validation process involved 8 highly experienced individuals. From analysis, it is evident that remaining seventeen (17) green rural road elements were significant and had a strong positive association with at least one of the socioeconomic development indicators studied. In conclusion, this study has successfully achieved all its objectives and has developed a Framework of Significant Elements for My Green Rural Road Index-(Socioeconomic).