Asian highway and rural roads and development : introductory reports.

The roles of secondary rural roads in a nation's economic and social development and the requirements for the sustainable management of such road networks are explored with reference to Asia. Secondary road systems comprise both local feeder and access road networks which provide for road transport access to local communities and enterprises, and the networks of collector roads which provide access to the primary road network. Secondary road systems are an important, but often overlooked, part of the total transport system of a country or region and can be critical for the social and economic wellbeing of rural communities. The introductory Asian Highway report highlights some of the major milestones in Asian Highway (AH) development including the current highway network size, route numbering, the major highway standards adopted, and the accession of countries to the international conventions on land transport, transit and border crossings. A number of key organisations such as the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) have helped fund this development and promote its acceptability to the governments of the Asian continent. For the covering abstract see ITRD E118727.