Accepted Manuscript

Title: Sustainability assessment of road networks: A new

perspective based on service ability and landscape connectivity

Authors: Yongheng Rao, Jianjun Zhang, Qin Xu, Shuqing

Wang

PII: S2210-6707(17)31677-3
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2018.05.013
Reference: SCS 1091

To appear in:

Received date: 9-12-2017

Revised date: 7-5-2018
Accepted date: 7-5-2018

Please cite this article as: Rao Y, Zhang J, Xu Q, Wang S, Sustainability assessment of
road networks: A new perspective based on service ability and landscape connectivity,
Sustainable Cities and Society (2010), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2018.05.013

This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication.
As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript.
The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof
before it is published in its final form. Please note that during the production process
errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that
apply to the journal pertain.
Article

Sustainability assessment of road networks: a new

perspective based on service ability and landscape
connectivity

Yongheng Rao1, Jianjun Zhang1, 2*, Qin Xu1, Shuqing Wang1

T
1School of Land Science and Technology, China University of Geosciences, Beijing 100083, China

IP
2Key Laboratory of Land Consolidation and Rehabilitation, Ministry of Land and Resources, Beijing
100083, China

R
SC
* Corresponding author: zhangjianjun_bj@126.com

Highlights
U
N
 A new method for Sustainability assessment of road networks.
A
 Service ability of road is related to density, service scope and service objective.
M

 Landscape connectivity is an effective tool to evaluate the ecological impact of roads.

ED

 The paper will provide an idea about whether roads construction is worthy to do.
PT

Abstract:
With expanding infrastructure, roads which as a main method of transport in inland areas have
been increasing rapidly in developing countries. Their interconnectedness determines a city’s
E

sustainability. To avoid using excessive indicators, this paper takes the Wu’an city as a study area
CC

to propose a system to assess the development of the road network that focuses on two indicators:
one is the service ability which indicates the value of roads, and the other is landscape
connectivity which is used to measure the roads influence on the environment . The results reveal
A

that the density or length of roads is not the exclusive indicator used to determine service ability, while
reasonable and effective road networks are also crucial elements. So the construction of roads should
be explicit about the service objective.
And the landscape connectivity used in this study not only reflects the effects of roads on
ecological land but also recognizes important patches (whose landscape connectivity is high).
According to the visible landscape connectivity changes, it’s demonstrated that road is interrelated
with landscape connectivity. Where the road is, there will be worse landscape fragmentation and
1
connectivity, especially in the neighboring areas. As the results show that the obvious impacts
variations of landscape connectivity are almost focused on the habitat adjacent to the roads. The
study also demonstrates how the results of such an analysis vary with species traits (dispersal
capabilities) and shows that the probability of connectivity which contributes to the overall
landscape connectivity increases with larger dispersal distances. It is suggested that a reasonable
scale should be considered when measuring these influences. Our study provides a useful
diagnosis and helpful information for assessing the road networks. This analysis can be further
applied to judge whether road construction is worthy enough so as to promote the sustainable
development of road transportation by creating a balance between the service ability and the
influence on the ecological system.

T
IP
Key words: Dispersal distance; Functional zone; Sustainable transport; China

R
SC
1. Introduction
In general, the prosperity of a city benefits from establishment of transport networks, but

U
their irrational development may pose an obstacle to city sustainability. As defined by the
Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Sustainable transport is
N
“transportation that does not endanger public health or ecosystems and meets the needs for
access” [1]. Clearly, good transportation is of a significant responsibility to keep the sustainability
A
of economy, society and environment. However, with expanding construction, many
environmental problems have appeared, such as land occupancy, noise pollution and air
M

pollution[2,3]. There is a strong governmental desire for a comprehensive sustainability

assessment of transportation systems, though this task has proved difficult[4].
To achieve the sustainability assessment, a lot of research has already been carried out[5,6].
And the main method is to propose an assessment system. Most researchers have the opinions
ED

that it is necessary to have a macroscopic view of the entire decision-making process in order to
assess sustainability in an area of transport by using the indicators. In other words, the indicators
may be considered together rather than viewed in isolation[7]. From the definition of sustainable
PT

transport, it is clear that the indicators are classified into two aspects: the ability to serve like
accessibility to facilities or public transport, and the influence of transport such as land
consumption for transport [8,9]. An assessment system is especially complex to build for different
purposes. Currently, there is an on-going debate about the system. One viewpoint holds that
E

however complex a system is, its establishment is subjective and not reliable [10]. Even though,
CC

more researchers believe the assessment system is still an alternative tool for measuring
sustainability of transport system, and this approach has been broadly explored [11]. In the
process, characteristic indicators are differently selected to reflect one or more scenarios of
sustainable transport [12]. In addition, most of the assessment systems have been connected with
A

transport sustainability at national level, and it is insufficient in creating the indicators for
evaluating transport sustainability at local level [11].
As reported worldwide, there is a visible trend that the expanded environmental and social
considerations have been involved in the establishment of road networks, instead of the
traditional personal mobility included in this trend since 1990s[13,14]. According to this theory,
this paper chooses the indicator “service ability”, which is calculated by the service scope of road
networks to assess the ability of road networks to meet access needs. Service scope has been
2
defined as the radiation range of each road. In the service scope, public roads would fully and
conveniently “meet the needs for access”. Another essential core element in the evaluation of
service ability is the service object. The main reason each road was built is generally known, such
as for transportation of mining resources or for convenience to agriculture. To make the
assessment specific, the service object should be taken into account.
Besides, the interdependent link of these served “sources” also determines the operational
efficiency and radioactive effect of the transport network, which further produces a substantial
intervention on local natural and socio-economic environments. In general, connectivity has been
selected as one available indicator, which is a parameter of landscape features that measures the
process of a landscape feature linked to others[15] and reflects the continuity in space of
corridors[16]. In the process, this indicator is employed to characterize the ability of some

T
landscape element(s) to facilitate or hinder the movement [17,18]. Environmentally and
sustainably, the key to maintaining biodiversity is the dispersal ability of organisms across

IP
changing landscapes [19],and enhanced landscape connectivity is beneficial for promoting
biodiversity and ecosystem integrity [20]. There is, hereby, the landscape connectivity can show
some impacts from the roads construction [14,21,22], and the road becomes one main element

R
responsible for the loss of connectivity [23]. Therefore, the connectivity is regarded as a highly

SC
effective bridge for various environments [24]. With the expanded connotation of “connectivity”,
socio-economic communication has been a critical consideration in construction of road
networks[25].
The effect of expansion of road networks on the comprehensive function has drawn

U
attentions throughout the world, and these studies have concentrated on the impact of roads on
land use change [26] and habitat fragmentation [20,27,28], which, if the road transport is always
N
kept in dynamic expansion, are the recurring causes and consequences of city development and
redevelopment, but the only unchanged thing is the function of road transports. Clearly, the
A
sustainable transportation is characterized by two key points of not endangering ecosystem
services as well as meeting the needs for access which answers what and why it serves[29].
M

Around this core, this study attempts to employ two major indicators of service ability and
landscape connectivity to present the sustainability of road transports in a Chinese mining city,
which covers a mix of agriculture, industry, forest, nature reserve, etc.., and whose road
ED

transports are of a variety of service functions. Therefore, the objectives of this study are (1) to
estimate the service ability of road. (2) to assess the influence on ecological environment by
calculating the different landscape connectivity with and without roads. (3) to achieve the
sustainability assessment. Achieving these objectives will provide the government and policy
PT

makers with useful information for future land planning and nature conservation, such as
measurements of the ecological interference of road construction, which can help in the decision of
whether to build.
E

2. Materials and Methods

CC

2.1 Description of study area

Wu’an is used as a case study to propose a system for assessing the development of the road
network. It is in Hebei province, China, which lies at the eastern foot of the Taihang Mountains,
A

located at 113°45′~114°22′E, 36°28′~37°01′N (Figure. 1). Wu’an has a population of about 720,000
people and covers a surface area of 1819 km2. The whole city is surrounded by mountains and
possesses rich mineral resources. Due to the special location and resources, agriculture and the
mining industry both support economic development. However, in the northwest and southwest
Wu’an, there are vast stretches of forests. Wu’an as a typical study area in China, with the
characteristics of four coupled scenes: agriculture and industry, rich and poor, pollution and fresh

3
air and water, highland and lowland. Hence, there is always a huge contradiction between
socio-economic and ecological systems, especially intervened by human activities.

2.2Research Methods

2.2.1 Research framework

Our assessment study is focused on the level of “transportation that does not endanger
public health or ecosystems and meets the needs for access”. It can conclude that the assessment
system is composed of two parts. One is the inference to public health or ecosystems, it be
quantified by connectivity, which is a parameter of landscape features that measures the process
of a landscape feature linked to others and reflects the continuity in space of corridors. The other

T
one “meets the needs for access” means that the roads are generally surrounding transportation
of industrial products, convenience to farming, etc., which are actually regarded as the service

IP
ability. It is represented by the density and service scope of roads. To establish the assessment
system, the result can make a comprehensive assessment of road networks.

R
2.2.2 Service ability

SC
Service is the main target of road construction, and the service ability determines whether
roads are worthy to build. The service ability is certainly an indicator that can be used to assess
road sustainability[8]. It involves road density and road service scope which is on the basis of

U
service object and service distance, instead of simple accessibility. The service object is according
to functional zone (for transportation of industrial products, convenience to farming, etc.) and
N
distance, which are calculated by the impacts on ecological factors, land use and other factors, of
city roads and rural roads are 500m and 250m, respectively [30-32].
A
The service ability of roads is specifically defined using the following expression in this study:
Fsa =f (D, SS, SO) (1)
M

Where SA is the serve ability, D is the density, SS is the service scope (defined as the radiation
range of each road), and SO is the service objective (defined as source of roads transportation
objects). By this expression we can say the service ability of road is related to density, service
ED

scope and service objective.

2.2.3 Landscape connectivity

PT

To calculate the contribution of landscape connectivity within a system or region, different

modeling methods have been used [23]. Most of these methods are based on spatially explicit
models to analyze the structure of the landscape, which is reflected by the landscape element
[28,33].To quantify landscape connectivity, some approaches and indicators using different types
E

of measurements have been suggested [18,28,34].One of these measurements, the probability of

CC

connectivity (PC), which is based on a probabilistic connections model, reflects the probability of
inter-patch dispersal [35].After the calculation of landscape connectivity, the assessment of the
impact of the infrastructure can be quantified.
Road networks endanger ecosystems, which is reflected by the landscape connectivity index
A

and the probability of connectivity (PC).Road networks are related to the barrier effect on PC,
which inhibits the movement of species and ecological energy between patches [36].This case
study is focused on the connectivity in different functional zones. In each scenario, the landscape
connectivity is calculated with and without roads.

2.2.3.1 Habitat selection

4
 Before calculating the PC, the first processing step involves selecting the habitats (which
means the different patches). The selected habitat should be accessible to any habitat, large enough
to sustain ecological processes and have high landscape suitability. Here, the accessibility of the
habitat means the available dispersal movement distance between habitats for ecological
processes. The size of the habitat is locally specific, recognizing that habitat size needs to include as
many ecological processes as possible according to the local environment to ensure the results
reasonable and comparable. A high landscape suitability is the ability of the earth or region to
support life and maintain an ecosystem.
In the PC calculation model, the node may contain two or more contiguous ecological
patches, and the dissection process of roads is needed to be considered adequately. In order to
ensure the feasibility of PC calculation, the minimum threshold of ecological patch size is set at 5

T
ha based mainly on characteristics of the local environment and previous studies[23,37].
In this paper, the study area was classified into Agricultural zones 1 and 2, Forest zones 1 and

IP
2, the Mining zone and the Comprehensive zone, for a total of 6 functional zones. Different
functional zones have different research objectives. Accordingly, the cropland, as the dominant
land in the Agricultural zones, is defined as the selected habitat to assess the impact of road

R
networks on landscape connectivity. The Forest zone selects forests to respond to the influence of

SC
road networks. According to the model of landscape connectivity, the dispersal distance is the
connective threshold between habitats, and the connectivity is used to assess the level of
concentration of urban land. Built-up land is chosen in the Mining zone, and the selected habitat is
classified into built-up land and ecological land to recognize the impact of the intensity on

U
connectivity in the Comprehensive zone. (In the paper, built-up land includes urban built-up,
rural settlement industrial land, land for transportation and others. The ecological land includes
N
cropland, forest land, grassland and unused land[38,39]）
The effect of fragmentation on the landscape was quantified by the difference number of
A
patches in each functional zone. The road networks affect the number of patches by their true
width as follows: city road, 15 m, and rural road, 10 m.
M

2.2.3.2 Scenario analysis

To test the impact of road networks on landscape connectivity, this study builds two
ED

resistance surfaces, with and without the presence of roads, which cover the whole study area.
Loose-surface roads in the city were set at a width of 15 m, and the remaining roads were defined
as rural road with a width of 10 m. Landscape connectivity is represented by different dispersal
distances in different scenarios. According to the research on the dispersal distances of species for
PT

multi-scale study areas[23,28,40], the cost-distances of 50 m, 100 m, 250 m, 500 m, 1000 m2500 m
and 5000 m were set, respectively, in seven scenarios. For each scenario, the threshold of effective
distance corresponded to a 0.5 probability of the occurrence, which may make the results more
E

reasonable [35].
All scenarios have been applied to different functional zones. In others words, the analysis of
CC

scenarios may include situations with and without roads, and the differences between functional
zones are also compared.

2.2.3.3 Effective distance

A

The accumulated cost of a least-cost path is the main method of calculating connectivity. The
effective distance between every two nodes is the accumulated cost through the least cost paths
throughout the friction/resistance surface and not simply the Euclidean distance[41]. Therefore,
the computation includes two layers: a source layer that measures the accumulated cost path for
each cell and a friction/resistance layer that measures the travel cost through each cell. As an
individual element used in the calculation of the resistance value, the road networks are used to
5
recognize their interference with landscape connectivity. The buffer zones of road networks and
land cover both serve as the resistance layer value [28,42]. The resistance value for classifying each
layer refers to Marulli and Mallarach [43] and based on the local conditions (Table1). The
resistance layer is converted to a raster with a grid size of 25 m×25 m to calculate the effective
distance.

Because subjectivity is always present with the friction/resistance values for different land
cover types, a sensitivity analysis is performed to reflect the reliability of the results. For this
purpose, the friction values of the roads fluctuate 50% below and above the value 6 when
performing the accumulated cost path calculations and subsequent analyses. In other words, there
are two additional resistance surfaces with friction values of 3 and 9.
It is noteworthy that the effective distance of built-up land is not the accumulated cost

T
distance but rather the Euclidean distance. Because the connectivity in this paper is used to assess

IP
intensive levels of urban land, and the Euclidean distance is the absolute distance which indicates
the spatial span.
The effective distances of the accumulated cost of the least-cost path between each pair of

R
nodes are calculated by Pathmarix 1.1 [41], and the Euclidean distance is calculated with the
Conefor Inputs Tool [35].

SC
2.2.3.4 Landscape connectivity analysis
The relative ranking landscape connectivity according to a certain index (I) can be obtain by

U
calculating the percentage of importance (dI) of each individual element[44].
N
I I'
dI (%)  *100 (2)
I
A

The probability of connectivity (PC) index is based on a probabilistic connections model and
M

is defined as the probability that two units randomly placed within the landscape fall into habitat
areas that are reachable from each other (interconnected) given a set of n habitat patches and the
connections (Pij) among them. This model has been presented in detail in Saura and Pascual-Hortal
ED

[44]. In this study, the PC index is selected to represent the landscape connectivity because it is not
affected by the presence of adjacent habitat patches or cells in the analyzed datasets [35].
The value of the PC ranges from 0 to 1 and increases with improved connectivity, as
measured by Eq. (3):
PT

n n

 a a p
*
i j ij
a 1 j 1
PC  (3)
E

2
A L
CC

Where n is the number of patches in entire landscape, ai is the area of habitat patch i, aj is the
area of habitat j, and AL is the total landscape area (study area, comprising both habitat and
non-habitat patches). pij* is the maximum probability of species diffusion between habitat i and
A

habitat j, determined by Pij, and Pij here is calculated from a negative exponential function of the
effective distances (minimum-cost and Euclidean distance in this study), represented by Eq. (4):

Pij=e d ij

(4)
Where Pij is the direct dispersal probability between two habitat areas i and j, dij is the
effective distance, and  is a constant determined by a pair of pij and dij values. All indices were
calculated by Conefor Sensinode 2.6.
6
2.2.3.5 Identifying the correlation: variation of dPC values and distance away from roads of each
node
The dPC value of each node was calculated in the landscape connectivity analysis for each
functional zone, and the results were presented according to the different dispersal distances and
variations with and without the interference of road networks. In considering the presence or
absence of road networks, the variations reveal the disturbed intensity of road to node. This
procedure was complemented by overlapping the nodes of the top 10 and last 10 change values in
every scenario to identify the correlation between the variation in the dPC values of the nodes and
their distance away from road networks.

2.3 Data sources and primary processing

T
2.3.1 basic data

IP
The primary data used in this paper is from the statistical data on land use which investigated
by Wu’an government in 2012. There are 5 land use types, forest, pasture, cropland, water body

R
and built-up land. The vector data of road networks is extracted from the transportation map of
Wu’an in 2012. In this study, the roads in the area can be divided into two levels: city roads

SC
(downtown-town) and rural roads (town-village and village-village).

2.3.2 Primary processing:Division of function zones

U
The entire area of Wu'an was classified into five functional zones in our previous study
according to the environment, land use cover, environmental problems and the boundary of towns
N
[45]. As we would assess the connectivity of roads, geographical location factor will be taken into
account in this study. The result is that the function zones are divided into Forest zone,
A
Agricultural zone, Comprehensive zone and Mining zone. And the Agricultural zone means that
this area is dominated by agricultural production, the Forest zone corresponds to forest ecological
M

protection areas, mining zone indicates more mining production activities, and comprehensive
zone is where land use are complex. Besides, it is necessary to require that there is no obvious
segmentation in the computational study area to ensure the accuracy of the results because of the
ED

calculation principle of the landscape connectivity model. Therefore, we divide the Agriculture
zone and Forest zone into zone 1 and 2) (Figure.3).

3. Results
PT

3.1. Service ability of road networks

There is a significant widening gap in the service ability of road networks compared with
E

China's average value of 0.201 km/km2 in 2005 [46].The density of road networks in Agricultural
zone 1 is greater than that in the Mining zone, while the densities in the Comprehensive zone,
CC

Forest zone 2 and Agricultural zone 2 are nearly equal. Forest zone 1 has the lowest road network
density, which was nearly one third that of Agricultural zone 1 (Table 2).

Density is an indicator of the ability to serve but is not absolute. Assessing the service ability
A

also requires recognition of the service objectives and areas. In this paper, the service area was
defined by the radiation range of roads. The service objectives are diverse in functional zones.
Roads are mainly used to link cropland and rural settlements with cost-effective cultivation in the
Agricultural zone as a way to transport mineral resources in the Mining zone and as an access to
recreation and essential public services in the Forest zone. The Comprehensive zone includes all of
the above service objectives.

7
 The rate of service objectives in a specific service area is not the same as the density of road
networks in each functional area (Figure.4).Only approximately 41.6% of all cropland, which is
defined as the service objective, is in the effective service area in Agricultural zone 1, which has the
largest density of road networks. The top rate in the service area is 60.3% in the Mining zone.
Agricultural zone 2 has an almost equal rate to that of Agricultural zone 1 with approximately
39.8% of cropland in the service area, though the densities of the road networks have great
disparities. Similar to the density of road networks, Forest zone 1 still has the smallest service area
of 28.5%; zone 2 has a much larger service area of 48.1%. In the Comprehensive zone, built-up land
and ecological land are, respectively, 52.4% and 36.4% in the service area. The entire road network
is not adequate, and there are still service objectives that are not in the service area. In this study,
the service ability in the Mining zone was much stronger compared with those of the other zones,

T
though the Mining zone has little superiority in density. The Comprehensive zone and Forest zone
2 do not have high densities but have large rates. A representative example has a reasonable roads

IP
construction plan with significant effects on the service ability.

3.2. Influence of transport on landscape connectivity

R
3.2.1. Effect of fragmentation on the landscape

SC
Without the consideration of road networks, this paper has selected 171and 89 nodes, which
account for 81.8% and 91.5% of the total forest land within Forest zones1and 2, respectively, as
resource patches. A total of 171 and 77 nodes are obtained in Agricultural zones 1 and 2,

U
occupying86.5% and 95.1% of all cropland, respectively. The Mining zone includes 254 nodes and
accounts for 90.5% of all of the built-up land. In the Comprehensive zone, the built-up land and
N
ecological land are composed of 187 and 218 nodes and made up 81.2% and 71.8% of the sum,
respectively.
A
Considering the roads, the number of resource patches increased to 253 and 171 in Forest
zones 1 and 2, respectively, and the patches in Agricultural zone 1 increased to 412, which is
M

almost 2.5 times more than that without roads; the patches in Agricultural zone 2 increased to 147.
In the Comprehensive zone, the ecological patches have the largest increase, reaching606. The
built-up land decreased to 184 and 121 in the Mining zone and Comprehensive zone, respectively.
ED

3.2.2. Influence reflected by landscape connectivity

The landscape connectivity is displayed according to the different dispersal distances and the
PT

impact of roads that are considered or not (Figure. 5). The landscape connectivity has a significant
correlation between dispersal distance and dPC values, while different distances leads to variation
in the dPC values for nodes(Table 3). For a certain dispersal distance, accounting for the impact of
roads also influences the dPC values. For the dPC values, whose road friction values are 3 and 9,
E

this paper calculates the taub rank correlation coefficient between each value with a road friction
CC

of value 6. The results are, respectively, as high as (0.957) and (0.960) for the values of 3 and
9.Therefore, the impact of roads on dPC is robust in this study.

In the scenario with a dispersal distance of 50 m, the variation in dPC values changes little
after taking the roads into account in Forest zone 1 due to the inadequate road infrastructure.
A

However, there is a striking loss in the dPC values of ecological land in Forest zone2 and
Agricultural zone 2 compared with those of the Comprehensive zone when the roads are
considered. The intensive degree of built-up land in the Mining zone and Comprehensive zone
increases visibly, reflected by the dPC values with roads. The ecological land in Agricultural zone1
maintains its dPC values as connectors with and without roads (Figure.5).This situation also
occurred in the scenarios with other dispersal distances(d=100, 250,500, 1000, 2500, 5000 m).The

8
reason might be that there is sufficiently abundant cropland to ignore the dispersal distance and
road effects in Agricultural zone1.
In the scenario with d=100 m, the effect of roads grows, and the disturbance of landscape
connectivity begins to act on smaller patches. The loss of dPC values mainly occurred near the
roads. In the Mining zone, the roads promoted intensive land use. Some built-up land that is not in
the urban area but is linked by road networks have an obvious increase in their dPC values.
In the scenario where the dispersal distance is 250 m, the dPC gap further expands between
the scenarios with and without roads. A similar result to that of d=100 m is observed in Forest
zones 1 and 2 and Agricultural zone 2. However, the ecological land located in the Comprehensive
zone shows differences in that the influence of roads has switched to increase or decrease the dPC
values. The built-up land near the road networks in the Mining zone and Comprehensive zone has

T
been connected, and the dPC values increased once more.
In the scenario corresponding to d=500 m, the resistance further aggravated the effect of roads

IP
on the ecological resource layer. In the Forest zone, which is far from the urban area, the inhibition
of landscape connectivity has grown. However, the promotion is more obvious than the inhibition
of landscape connectivity after accounting for the roads in the Comprehensive zone and

R
Agricultural zone 2.The result of built-up land is not affected much by the larger dispersal

SC
distance, and there is a gradually increasing influence on smaller patches with the larger dispersal
distance.
In the scenarios of d=1000 m, 2500 m, and 5000 m distance with roads, the results of the
influence reflected by landscape connectivity are similar. With the larger dispersal distance, the

U
disturbance of landscape connectivity and the promotion of connectivity of built-up land are
weakened. The likely reason is that the increasing dispersal distance has reduced the influence of
N
the insufficient road infrastructure.
It is obvious difference that the roads ecological influence quantized by the landscape
A
connectivity under the different dispersal distances and functional zones, which highlights the
dPC values and disturbance intensity. But the overall variation trend is similar. For example, the
M

dPC values variation will increase and then decrease, even from a minus to a plus, with the
increasing dispersal distance in all functional zones. But the inflection points are different. From
the results we can see that the largest variation in ecological land with and without roads occurred
ED

with dispersal distances of 500 m, 250 m, 5000 m,500 m and 2500 m, respectively, in Forest zone 1,
Forest zone 2,Agricultural zone1, Agricultural zone 2 and the Comprehensive zone. The built-up
land has dispersal distances of 500 m and 50 min the Mining zone and in the Comprehensive zone,
respectively.
PT

After our analysis of all the scenarios, we can conclude that the dPC values are wild
difference with and without road. The main reason is the dissection of road itself and the habitat
fragmentation. Form the results we can see that landscape connectivity diverges widely in
E

different functional zones with diverse road densities. Road networks obviously inhibit the
landscape connectivity of ecological land and promote the connectivity of built-up land, and the
CC

effect is strengthened with increasing road density.

3.2.3. Contributions of roads to landscape connectivity

A

Because Agricultural zone 1 is almost entirely composed of cropland, the dPC values change
little with an increase in the dispersal distance. Thus, this zone is not considered in this paragraph.
Figure.6 shows that the variation in dPC values of each service objective in its respective functional
area after taking the road networks into account or not, and all the variations have been presented
with the distance of each node from the roads. In all the scenarios, the roads not only increase the
fragmentation of some nodes and decrease their dPC values; the roads also promote the landscape
connectivity of other nodes. The nodes with sharp changes are always adjacent to roads and far

9
away from the roads. The variations in the nodes are nearly equal to zero. Forests in Forest zone 2
show a different result that is perhaps caused by the excessive disturbance from human activities.
With the interference of road networks, the top 10 various values of built-up land are far greater
than those of forest land and cropland, and the reason is that the roads connected with built-up
land form a huge and highly important node in the landscape connectivity, which even caused the
dPC values of the surrounding nodes that are not closed to roads to grow.

3.3 Assessment of road sustainability

In the assessment of road networks, road construction strengthens the service ability and
promotes the connectivity of built-up land. However, the construction of roads has obviously
blocked the landscape connectivity of cropland and forests. The sustainability can be used to

T
promote or inhibit road construction. It can conclude from all above that there will be greatly
discrepant when sustainability assessment is represented by ecological land (Cropland, Forest)

IP
and built-up land (Figure. 7).
The Figure.7a displays the characteristics of variation of the sustainability with the road

R
construction increasing as if there were no influence on the environment, in which case the
sustainability linearly increases with increasing density of road. The sustainability keeps

SC
increasing rapidly until steady when it is represented by built-up land (Figure. 7b). The reason we
can see that the service ability to meet the needs for access is always keeping going and the
connectivity is higher and higher when the roads are constructed more and more. There are
similar relationships, represented by forest or cropland, between sustainability and density of

U
road, and the overall trend is to increase first and then reduce. But the sustainability changes
faster represented by forest, and its top sustainability of road will be lower compared with which
N
represented by cropland. To achieve the top sustainability, there is a lower density of roads
(Figure. 7c, 7d).
A
It is obvious different that the assessment of roads sustainability represented by the different
elements. But the city is a complex and cannot consider any one factor independently. By
M

summarizing all the research results, we have drawn up the results of the urban road
sustainability based on two different urban development types (Figure 8). It shows that the
Ecological conserving city, which means that most land is ecological land in this city, is more
ED

sensitive to road construction. When road construction reaches a certain level, its sustainability
will decline rapidly. The economic development city, of course, needs more roads, and the road
density threshold is higher to achieve the top sustainability, but it still increases first and then
decreases on the whole.
PT

4. Discussion and conclusions

E

4.1. Main achievements

CC

Generally, a mass of indicators are included to assess transport systems[8]. However, this
study selects two indicators, the service ability and the interference with landscape connectivity
with a focus on local-level transport, and is still significant. The study area is classified into
different functional zones, and each has its own requirements for roads. The evaluation of
A

indicators is also different from those of other sustainability studies, whose values were directly
observed or measured. This paper estimates indicators using special models. The service ability,
obtained from the service area and aimed at special objectives, was a response to the contribution
of road networks. The landscape connectivity calculated by dPC values not only reflects the
influence on ecological land but also estimates the ability to promote the connectivity of built-up
land.

10
 The identification of the service ability in different functional zones represents an apparent
situation where the density or length of roads is not the exclusive indicator used to determine
service ability, while reasonable and effective road networks are also crucial elements. The
construction of roads should be explicitly about the service objective. The functional simulation
and assessment of road networks depends on modeling and a quantitative methodology in this
study and not only reflects the effects of roads on ecological land but also recognizes important
patches (whose dPC values are high), which may cause road plans to connect or avoid
disturbances. This study has an advantage previous studies that focused mainly on measuring the
ecological interference. After the identification of key habitats, harmonious road network planning
is proposed and which avoids unlimited urban sprawl and considers nature conservation. The
dPC values demonstrate the fact that human activities are interrelated with landscape

T
connectivity. Human activities can increase the number and fragmentation of habitats, as well as
decrease landscape connectivity. The presence of road construction has a significant role in this

IP
situation, especially in the areas near roads. Different species and ecological processes have
different spread distances. The same connectivity will have different effects depending on the
species. For this reason, our study selected various dispersal distances. The scenarios show that

R
roads have obvious influences on dPC values and that road planning should guarantee that

SC
ecological tolerance is sustainable with the disturbance of road construction. In fact, in a
developing country such as China, the effect on the landscape is hardly considered, and the
government is mostly concerned with the service ability. The results warn that ecological land,
especially closed to roads, should receive sufficient attention with regard to natural conservation.
4.3. Limitations and uncertainties
U
This paper proposed a novel approach to evaluate road networks using a new perspective at
N
the local/city scale. Compared with the reported assessment system, fewer indicators were
adopted in this paper, which may lead to the loss of perfect information. For example, the effective
A
distance of built-up land was calculated by the Euclidean distance; but, after considering the roads
when measuring dPC values to assess intensive land use, the distance of transport may be ignored.
M

In the paper, the service ability and landscape connectivity represent the economic benefits and
ecological impacts of road networks, respectively. And the indicator system is complicated for
measuring the transport sustainability in most research. For example, a city level assessment
ED

includes economy (modal spit of transit, service intensity of transit, the ratio of bus exclusive
lanes, and so on), environmental( Emission intensity of air pollutants, recycling of used tires, and
so on), society(traffic accidents transit subsidy in remote areas, and so on) and energy(Alternative
and renewable energy consumption and so on)[11].There is wild difference between the ways of
PT

assessment. The reason is that there is different research object. One emphasizes the quantization
of the material and energy flow on the road, and the other one focus on the spatial ecological
disturbances. Of course, more crucial indicators will be considered, and assessing the possible lost
E

information deserves more concern and discussion in the further research. But anyway, our study
at least evaluates new elements for the assessment of sustainable transport, and the research
CC

method provides a useful diagnosis and helpful information for judging whether road
construction is worthy. It may effectively measure the rationality of roads construction in other
cities and be applied in a variety of situations to promote the sustainable development of road
transportation by creating a balance between the service ability and the influence on the ecological
A

system.

4.2. Limitations and uncertainties

This paper proposed a novel approach to evaluate road networks using a new perspective at
the local/city scale. Compared with the reported assessment system, fewer indicators were
adopted in this paper, which may lead to the loss of perfect information. For example, the effective

11
distance of built-up land was calculated by the Euclidean distance; but, after considering the roads
when measuring dPC values to assess intensive land use, the distance of transport may be ignored.
In the paper, the service ability and landscape connectivity represent the economic benefits and
ecological impacts of road networks, respectively. And the indicator system is complicated for
measuring the transport sustainability in most research. For example, a city level assessment
includes economy (modal spit of transit, service intensity of transit, the ratio of bus exclusive
lanes, and so on), environmental( Emission intensity of air pollutants, recycling of used tires, and
so on), society(traffic accidents transit subsidy in remote areas, and so on) and energy(Alternative
and renewable energy consumption and so on)[11].There is wild difference between the ways of
assessment. The reason is that there is different research object. One emphasizes the quantization
of the material and energy flow on the road, and the other one focus on the spatial ecological

T
disturbances. Of course, more crucial indicators will be considered, and assessing the possible lost
information deserves more concern and discussion in the further research. But anyway, our study

IP
at least evaluates new elements for the assessment of sustainable transport, and the research
method provides a useful diagnosis and helpful information for judging whether road
construction is worthy. It may effectively measure the rationality of roads construction in other

R
cities and be applied in a variety of situations to promote the sustainable development of road

SC
transportation by creating a balance between the service ability and the influence on the ecological
system.

4.3. Social and ecological applications

U
In China, road construction has been developing very rapidly with the developing
infrastructure and the total length of roads reached about 4,237,500 kilometers by 2012 [47]. So the
N
sustainability assessment is a pressing need. The identification of important patches provides a
feasible way to regulate a core zone in natural conservation in which the potential and reasonable
A
paths of roadways can be recognized (in a further analysis) [23]. Paths with sufficient density can
promote regional sustainable development. With this method, the government can take into
M

account the influence of planned roads in the coming years, which may be an indicator to help
determine whether a road should be built. According to our study, the loose surface of roads has a
direct influence on land and an obvious effect on habitat fragmentation. However, when we
ED

calculate the dPC values variations, the maximum is positive rather than negative. This method
may provide domestic and foreign researchers with a research direction for maximizing the
benefits of roads.
Through the study of the article, we can see the realizability to mitigate and weaken the
PT

ecological environment of road under the condition of satisfying the demand for construction. On
the one hand, we need to consider the use of roads, whether it is to serve agriculture, industry, or
simply travel of residents. Based on this, we must recognize the radiation radius of different road
E

in order to estimate the implication on ecological environment. Through this method, we can not
only assess the sustainable evaluation of the existing road network as a whole, but also play a
CC

guiding role for a particular road.

Acknowledgements: This article is supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No:
A

41571507, 41101531, 41401622) and Beijing Higher Education Young Elite Teacher Project (No.YETP0639).
Also, authors gratefully acknowledge the colleagues and friends in Land Resources Bureau of Wu’an for
offering the basic data and the relevant information.

12
Reference

1. Institution of Engineers, A. Sustainable transport: Responding to the challenges; sustainable

enery transport taskforce report. Sustainable Transport: Responding to the Challenges; Sustainable
Enery Transport Taskforce Report 1999.
2. Lera-López, F.; Sánchez, M.; Faulin, J.; Cacciolatti, L. Rural environment stakeholders and
policy making: Willingness to pay to reduce road transportation pollution impact in the western
pyrenees. Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment 2014, 32, 129-142.
3. Pouresmaeili, M.A.; Aghayan, I.; Taghizadeh, S.A. Development of mashhad driving cycle

T
for passenger car to model vehicle exhaust emissions calibrated using on-board measurements.

IP
Sustainable Cities and Society 2018, 36, 12-20.
4. Böhringer, C.; Jochem, P.E.P. Measuring the immeasurable — a survey of sustainability
indices. Ecological Economics 2007, 63, 1-8.

R
5. Salling, K.B.; Pryn, M.R. Sustainable transport project evaluation and decision support:

SC
Indicators and planning criteria for sustainable development. International Journal of Sustainable
Development & World Ecology 2015, 22, 346-357.
6. Finnveden, G.; Åkerman, J. Not planning a sustainable transport system. Environmental
Impact Assessment Review 2014, 46, 53-57.
U
7. Ortega, E.; Otero, I.; Mancebo, S. Titim gis-tool: A gis-based decision support system for
N
measuring the territorial impact of transport infrastructures. Expert Systems with Applications
2014, 41, 7641-7652.
A
8. Reisi, M.; Aye, L.; Rajabifard, A.; Ngo, T. Transport sustainability index: Melbourne case
M

study. Ecological Indicators 2014, 43, 288-296.

9. Rosa, D.L.; Takatori, C.; Shimizu, H.; Privitera, R. A planning framework to evaluate
demands and preferences by different social groups for accessibility to urban greenspaces.
ED

Sustainable Cities & Society 2017.

10. Cherchye, L.; Lovell, C.A.K.; Moesen, W.; Puyenbroeck, T.V. One market, one
number? A composite indicator assessment of eu internal market dynamics. Social Science
Electronic Publishing 2005, 51, 749–779.
PT

11. Shiau, T.-A.; Liu, J.-S. Developing an indicator system for local governments to
evaluate transport sustainability strategies. Ecological Indicators 2013, 34, 361-371.
E

12. Toth-Szabo, Z.; Várhelyi, A. Indicator framework for measuring sustainability of

transport in the city. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 2012, 48, 2035-2047.
CC

13. Coppola, P.; Papa, E. Accessibility planning tools for sustainable and integrated land
use/transport (lut) development: An application to rome. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences
2013, 87, 133-146.
A

14. Gulhan, G.; Ceylan, H.; Özuysal, M.; Ceylan, H. Impact of utility-based accessibility
measures on urban public transportation planning: A case study of denizli, turkey. Cities 2013, 32,
102-112.
15. Merriam, G.; Merriam, G. Connectivity: A fundamental ecological characteristic of
landscape pattern. Proc. First Int. Sem. Methodology in Landscape 1984.
16. Forman, R.T.T. Ecologically sustainable landscapes: The role of spatial configuration.

13
 In: Isaac S., Zonneveld & Richard 1990.
17. Fahrig; L. Connectivity is a vital element of landscape structure. OIKOS 1993,
571-573.
18. MINOR, E.S.; URBAN, D.L. A graph-theory framework for evaluating landscape
connectivity and conservation planning. Conserv Biol 2008, 22, 297–307.
19. FAHRIG, L. Non-optimal animal movement in human-altered landscapes. Functional
Ecology 2007, 21, 1003–1015.
20. Liu, S.; Deng, L.; Dong, S.; Zhao, Q.; Yang, J.; Wang, C. Landscape connectivity
dynamics based on network analysis in the xishuangbanna nature reserve, china. Acta Oecologica
2014, 55, 66-77.

T
21. Igondova, E.; Pavlickova, K.; Majzlan, O. The ecological impact assessment of a

IP
proposed road development (the slovak approach). Environmental Impact Assessment Review
2016, 59, 43-54.

R
22. Ferreira, V.J.; Sáez-De-Guinoa Vilaplana, A.; García-Armingol, T.; Aranda-Usón, A.;
Lausín-González, C.; López-Sabirón, A.M.; Ferreira, G. Evaluation of the steel slag incorporation

SC
as coarse aggregate for road construction: Technical requirements and environmental impact
assessment. Journal of Cleaner Production 2016, 130, 175-186.
23. Gurrutxaga, M.; Rubio, L.; Saura, S. Key connectors in protected forest area networks

U
and the impact of highways: A transnational case study from the cantabrian range to the western
alps (sw europe). Landscape and Urban Planning 2011, 101, 310-320.
N
24. Ng, C.N.; Xie, Y.J.; Yu, X.J. Integrating landscape connectivity into the evaluation of
ecosystem services for biodiversity conservation and its implications for landscape planning.
A
Applied Geography 2013, 42, 1-12.
M

25. Ahmed, Q.I.; Lu, H.; Ye, S. Urban transportation and equity: A case study of beijing
and karachi. Transportation Research Part A 2008, 42, 125-139.
26. Wu, C.-F.; Lin, Y.-P.; Chiang, L.-C.; Huang, T. Assessing highway's impacts on
ED

landscape patterns and ecosystem services: A case study in puli township, taiwan. Landscape and
Urban Planning 2014, 128, 60-71.
27. Tournant, P.; Afonso, E.; Roué, S.; Giraudoux, P.; Foltête, J.-C. Evaluating the effect of
PT

habitat connectivity on the distribution of lesser horseshoe bat maternity roosts using landscape
graphs. Biological Conservation 2013, 164, 39-49.
28. Fu, W.; Liu, S.; Degloria, S.D.; Dong, S.; Beazley, R. Characterizing the
E

“fragmentation–barrier” effect of road networks on landscape connectivity: A case study in

xishuangbanna, southwest china. Landscape and Urban Planning 2010, 95, 122-129.
CC

29. Castillo, H.; Pitfield, D.E. Elastic - a methodological framework for identifying and
selecting sustainable transport indicators. Transportation Research Part D-Transport and
Environment 2010, 15, 179-188.
A

30. Deblinger, R.D. The ecological road-effect zone of a massachusetts (u.S.A.) suburban
highway. Conservation Biology 2000, volume 14, 36-46(11).
31. Hui, Z.; Ning-Ning, K.; Shu-Juan, L.; University, P.; Beijing; China). Human impacts
on landscape structure in wolong natural reserve. Acta Ecologica Sinica 2001.
32. Wang Z. S.; Gao Q. H.; Liu Y. F.; H., Z. The impact of roads n land-use patterns in a
rapidly urbanizing region. China Environmental Science 2009, 29, 437-442.

14
 33. Scolozzi, R.; Geneletti, D. A multi-scale qualitative approach to assess the impact of
urbanization on natural habitats and their connectivity. Environmental Impact Assessment Review
2012, 36, 9-22.
34. PascualHortal, L.a. Comparison and development of new graph-based landscape
connectivity indices: Towards the priorization of habitat patches and corridors for conservation.
Landscape Ecology 2006, volume 21, 959-967(959).
35. Saura, S.; Torné, J. Conefor sensinode 2.2: A software package for quantifying the
importance of habitat patches for landscape connectivity. Environmental Modelling & Software
2009, 24, 135-139.
36. Richardson, J.H.; Shore, R.F.; Treweek, J.R.; Larkin, S.B.C. Are major roads a barrier

T
to small mammals? Journal of Zoology 1997, 243, 840–846.

IP
37. Saura, S.; Estreguil, C.; Mouton, C.; Rodríguez-Freire, M. Network analysis to assess
landscape connectivity trends: Application to european forests (1990–2000). Ecological Indicators

R
2011, 11, 407–416.
38. Song, W.; Deng, X. Land-use/land-cover change and ecosystem service provision in

SC
china. Science of the Total Environment 2017, 576, 705.
39. Song, W.; Liu, M. Farmland conversion decreases regional and national land quality in
china. Land Degradation & Development 2016, n/a-n/a.
40.
U
Liu, C.F.; Zhou, B.; He, X.Y.; Chen, W. Selection of distance thresholds of urban forest
landscape connectivity in shenyang city. Chinese Journal of Applied Ecology 2010, 21, 2508-2516.
N
41. RAY, N. Pathmatrix: A geographical information system tool to compute effective
distances among samples. Molecular Ecology Notes 2005, volume 5, 177-180(174).
A
42. Shuangcheng, L.; Yueqing, X.; Qiaofu, Z.; Lei, W. Statistical analysis on the
M

relationship between road network and ecosystem fragmentation in china. Progress In Geography
2004.
43. Marulli, J.; Mallarach, J.M. A gis methodology for assessing ecological connectivity:
ED

Application to the barcelona metropolitan area. Landscape and Urban Planning 2005, 71, 243–262.
44. Saura, S.; Pascual-Hortal, L. A new habitat availability index to integrate connectivity
in landscape conservation planning: Comparison with existing indices and application to a case
PT

study. Landscape and Urban Planning 2007, 83, 91–103.

45. Zhang, J.; Fu, M.; Geng, Y. Study on ecologic regional ization in wu’an city.
Resources & Industries 2007, 9, 98-102.
E

46. Jilai, Y.; Haifeng, X.; Xinping, L. Analysis of present situation of traffic mileage in
china. China Science and Technology Information 2006, 118-119.
CC

47. Division, C.P. General situations of transport in china. Ministry of Transport of the
People’s Republic of China 2013,
http://www.moc.gov.cn/zhuzhan/jiaotonggaikuang/fazhanzongshu/jiaotongfazhan_GK/201306/t20
A

130624_1437582.html.

15
 T
RIP
SC
Figure 1. Location of Wu'an in Hebei Province, China

U
N
A
M
ED
E PT
CC
A

16
 That does not

Sustainable
Which meets the endanger public
needs for access health or ecosystems
Represented by
Represented by Service ability Landscape connectivity

T
Transportation

IP
Figure.2 Assessment of sustainable transportation

R
SC
U
N
A
M
ED
E PT
CC
A

17
 T
RIP
SC
Figure 3. Functional zones in study area
U
N
A
M
ED
E PT
CC
A

18
 T
R IP
SC
U
N
A
M
ED

Figure 4. Service scope of road networks. The different legend show the situation about service object in
the service scope of road networks
E PT
CC
A

19
 T
R IP
SC
(a)Scenario with a dispersal distance of 50 m

U
(b) Scenario with a dispersal distance of 100 m
N
A
M
ED
E PT
CC
A

(c)Scenario with a dispersal distance of 250 m (d) Scenario with a dispersal distance of 500 m

20
 T
R IP
SC
(e)Scenario with a dispersal distance of 1000 m (f) Scenario with a dispersal distance of 2500 m

U
N
A
M
ED
E PT
CC
A

(g) Scenario with a dispersal distance of 5000 m

Figure 5.The variation of the importance of nodes as connectivity providers (dPC) in the scenarios after
taking the roads into account for different dispersal distances. Each figure shows the dPC value variations of
ecological land and built-up land after taking the roads impacts into consideration in the special dispersal

21
distance. A positive value represents increasing, and a negative value represents decreasing.

T
R IP
SC
U
N
A
M
ED
E PT
CC
A

22
 T
R IP
SC
U
N
A
M

Figure 6. Variations in the dPC values. The figure shows that the variations in the dPC values of each
ED

service objective in their respective functional area with roads and without roads in all scenarios. The figure
identifies the correlation between the dPC values variation of the nodes and their distance away from road
networks by overlapping the nodes of the top 10 and last 10 change values in every scenario. Each represents
the dPC values variation of the service objects in their own functional zones.
E PT
CC
A

23
 Road
Built-up land

Sustainability

Sustainability

T
Density of road Density of road

IP
a. Road b.Bulit-up land
Forest Cropland

R
SC
Sustainability

Sustainability

U
N
Density of road Density of road
A
c. Forest d. Cropland
M

Figure 7. Concept map of sustainability assessment. Sustainability represented by different

element and comprehensive assessment
ED
E PT
CC
A

24
 Ecological conservation city
Economic development city

Sustainability

T
R IP
SC
Road construction

Figure 8. The relationship of between sustainability and roads construction in different urban
development types.
U
N
A
M
ED
E PT
CC
A

25
 Table 1. Resistance values of different layers

Layer Classification buffer Resista

nce
Roads Level 1 500 m 6
Level 2 250 m 6
Land cover(except the source Ecological land- Forest - 2
patches)
Ecological land-Pasture - 2
Ecological - 3

T
land-Cropland

IP
Ecological land-Water - 4
body
Built-up land - 5

R
SC
U
N
A
M
ED
E PT
CC
A

26
 Table 2. Density of road networks in 2012

Functional Length of Area(km2 Density of

zone roads(km) ) roads(km/km2)
Agricultural zone
248.78 248.79 0.9999
1
Agricultural zone
55.12 83.40 0.6608
2
Forest zone 1 154.00 412.10 0.3737
Forest zone 2 50.21 82.50 0.6085

T
Mining zone 485.60 537.72 0.9030

IP
Comprehensive
308.13 457.51 0.6735
zone

R
SC
U
N
A
M
ED
E PT
CC
A

27
 Table 3. The average variation of dPC values with and without the interference of road networks

Dispersal distance
Functional zones 50 100 25 50 1000 2500 500
m m 0m 0m m m 0m
-0.0 -0.02 -0.0 -0.0 -0.07 -0.03 -0.00
Forest zone 1
06 2 53 85 8 1 1
-0.2 -0.58 -0.8 -0.5 -0.08
Forest zone 2 0.109 0.093
84 0 78 52 8
0.00 0.02 0.02

T
Agricultural zone 1 0.010 0.317 0.432 0.486
4 2 8

IP
-0.2 -0.23 0.13 0.28
Agricultural zone 2 0.261 0.150 0.085
27 4 3 6
0.33 0.43 0.30

R
Mining zone 0.452 0.236 0.237 0.249
2 6 7

SC
Comprehensive zone 0.05 0.07 0.10
0.089 0.232 0.389 0.436
(built-up land) 8 2 2
Comprehensive zone -0.0 -0.03 -0.0 0.01
0.096 0.102 0.070
(ecological land) 21 9 61

U
1
The average variation of dPC values means the average variations of all the nodes after taking the
1
N
impacts of roads into consideration in each functional zone.
A
M
ED
E PT
CC
A

28