Under the above heading, the World Population Review newsletter has provided data on the rapid expansion of road building, particularly in the developing world – and why it matters.
But of immediate interest to us is the figures they provided for Europe, which showed, that Spain is currently the lead in terms of motorway length by European country, as the following graph shows.
The newsletter also reminds us that there is more of an attempt in Europe than elsewhere to build in sustainability, public transport integration, and low-emission zones in road building, particularly in countries like Germany, France and the Netherlands. Meanwhile, Poland and Romania are pouring significant EU funds into motorway expansion: in the last 15 years Poland alone added 4000+ km of motorways —one of the fastest expansions in Europe.
What do we feel about road expansion? Is this a good thing or a bad thing? Clearly in developing economies road expansion allows for greater freedom and more opportunity to find work and escape poverty. On the other side the more our planet with tarmac, the less the planet is able to breathe and the more its people are estranged from nature.
For more information about the World Population Review and to sign up for their newsletter, click here.