An Analysis of Road Infrastructure on Physical and Human Development of Metropolitan Cities of Punjab

Abstract

Social infrastructure is the backbone of any  country’s economy. The Pakistan’s major metropolitan cities  which lie in Punjab province Faisalabad, Lahore, Gujranwala,  Sialkot, Rawalpindi and Multan have major industries. For  enhancing interaction of goods and services between these  cities, metalled roads and highways are required. Roads will  also link big cities with rural areas and this will help smooth  flow of social and economic infrastructure to every part of the  country will come into being. Communication gap will  decrease and reduction in transportation cost will promote  industrial development. As low type roads and farm to market  roads can increase growth so government should look upon their maintenance. National highways and motorways reduce the time of travel so they should also be considered as a priority. These kinds of activities generate employment opportunities, so it should be regulated. This study attempts to explain the impact of road infrastructure on regional connectivity and poverty reduction of Punjab province in Pakistan by using time series data of variables national highways, farm to market roads, motorways, sugar cess roads, provincial roads and low type roads of Punjab province between 1990 and 2015. Literacy rate is used as an indicator of human development index (HDI) and Maternal mortality  rate as an indicator of physical quality of life index (PQLI) of Punjabprovince. The findings of the study showed  that road infrastructure is affecting positively to both physical and human development indicators in the province Punjab. Econometrics analysis also showed that the variables like farm to market roads, sugar cess roads and low type roads have both short run and long run impact upon increasing literacy rate whereas provincial roads have their impact only in short run impact on the economic development and prosperity of the province. In case of maternal mortality rate Model, the variables i.e. all the independent variables showing negative impact of on dependent variable but farm to marketroads and provincial roads in short run and sugar cess roads and low type roads it in long run.