Impact of Technology: Highways - Coursework Example

Impact of Technology: Highways al Affiliation Impact of Technology: Highways The emergence of the highway technology can be singled out as one of the technologies in the world that has had, and still does, significant, profound and far-reaching socio-economic, cultural, and even political effects. Highways have improved the society in many ways especially in transportation sector. This paper will therefore discuss the highway as a technology, define what it is and how it works, and give an analysis of how society functioned before and after its emergence and widespread implementation, carefully looking at the environmental, political, social and economic effects. Finally, the paper will give a direction on the future of this technology given the analysis of its impacts to society. A highway can generally be defined as any road that is public. It can also be described as a major road that connects any two or more points on land (Herrmann, 2010). However, various definitions have been put forward to describe this kind of technology. In England, Scotland, and Wales, the members of the public define a highway, not by its formation, length, or construction, but by the right of both access and usage. According to the English common law, it is a way or road, which members of the public can utilize, at any single point in time, without being hindered. In the Americas, on the other hand, highways are defined by the built and usage. Thus, they are defined as any road that public in nature used for the purpose of travel, but more specifically, a public road that is well built and can accommodate significant volumes of traffic at any given time (Herrmann, 2010). Road transport, other than being the most common form of transport the world over, also serves as one of the most important modes, especially in landlocked countries that do not have an access to the sea. So how do highways work? Highways are simply links between people and places. They are built over and below the land surface, and sometimes over water bodies in effort to connect one area to another. They are also linked with other small roads and pathways to form an interconnection of passages that serve to allow the free movement of persons and goods from one point to another. Highways, since ancient days, have changed not only landscapes, but also people’s minds and ways of doing things. They have significantly transformed most, if not all, functions of society including the political function, the economic and social functions. The construction major roads, highways and super highways have also brought about changes in the welfare of communities living near. Impacts, both positive and negative, on the environment have also been felt. Highways have been in existence since ancient times. What has however changed is its usage over time. The Romans are accredited as the first people to come up with the technology of building highways. In the ancient times, long before the development of major roads or highways, foot travel served as the most common form of transport. People would travel, and move goods, on foot for days to their intended destinations. The length in time taken to reach a destination from a certain point was a lot. This had significant effects to societies. The use of animals was the other major mode of transport used after foot travel. Politically, it was difficult to administer rules and regulations. The population living in one area of jurisdiction, for instance, would be scattered all over the land such that their administration was difficult. Economical effects of a society before the highway technology mostly stemmed from the political ones. Difficulty in administration of people meant the government was unable to effectively collect tax from all its subjects. As a result, it could not plan properly for social amenities. The distribution of goods and services was also limited to distances that people could easily access. The distribution of wealth in society was therefore adversely affected. Socially, people living before the introduction of highways were limited. The challenge in the distribution of goods and services discussed above, meant that people were only limited to what was available in one particular area, or in another that could be accessed through foot. The social interactions of people were also affected. This period in history also witnessed profound effects in people’s health. Mortality was high, especially among children due to factors such as disease outbreaks and famine. Accessibility to centers of treatment was highly limited. The acquisition of medicine and other medical facilities from other areas meant days of travel. Famine brought about death owing to the challenges of distribution. Areas that had surplus food had no way of quickly and efficiently transporting the same to areas experiencing deficiency. As such, an outbreak of a deadly disease, or famine, would adversely affect the health of members of a particular community. On a more positive note, the state of the environment during this period was very good. People only cleared vegetation for footpaths, and later, paths wide enough for use by animals. Therefore, most of the natural environment, such as rivers and forests and catchment areas, remained safeguarded. Natural habitats and wildlife were not interfered with. Weather patterns were unaffected, and were predictable. In modern society, the magnitude of the importance of the highway technology is not only widely accepted, but also appreciated. Highways today act as key links between towns, counties, states and countries as well. The impact to society, in political, economic, social and environmental terms is thus more significant today than in ancient society when the technology was not widespread. The positive impacts brought about by the highway technology in modern society are numerous. Economically, highways have served to increase the seamless flow of people, goods and services. Businesses have developed along major transport corridors, creating employment opportunities and wealth creation and distribution. Governments have also benefited through increased tax collection in form of fuel levy fees and freight fees charged at weighbridges stationed along major highways. Countries, such as China, which are pursuing massive highway infrastructure projects especially in third world economies, have greatly boosted their economic strength as they mostly export equipment, materials, and the technology to these countries (Robert, 2009). This has consequently led to job creation in the recipient countries, in terms of labor. Better constructed highways have also led to a significant reduction of time taken to move commodities from one area to another. This has immensely led to rapid business growth and strengthened political and diplomatic ties, especially between countries in which one of them is landlocked. In the East African community, for instance, trade and economic ties between Kenya and her landlocked neighbors, Uganda and Rwanda, have greatly been enhanced by the Great North transport corridor that serves the three countries as well as other African countries (Raballand, 2009). Highways have also spurred economic development in rural areas. There is an accepted correlation between economic growth and development in rural settings and the widespread construction and expansion of highways. The mainstay of most rural economies is agriculture. An expansion of road networks in these areas has led to improved transportation of produce and farm inputs, including labor. Thus, rural populations have also witnessed an upward trend in job growth that has further led to improved income and social wellbeing. Politically, highways have led to improved relations between nations sharing this type of technology. The movement of people and goods from one country to the other has led to better relations as it has become imperative for the two nations to works closely for the welfare of their citizens crossing national borders. Thus, countries now cooperate more on issues such as infrastructure sharing and security. An increased implementation of the highway technology has also led to governments decentralizing most national functions to the county level and rural areas because of accessibility. In the ancient times, as earlier discussed, this was not the case. Therefore, governments are now able to provide the very basic social amenities to members of the public owing to accessibility brought about by highways. This raises the welfare and general wellbeing of the governed. The positive impacts that stream from the expansion of highways are however challenged by a number of negative issues. The negative socio-economic impacts on society brought about by the construction of highways are many. These include the disruption of settlement patterns as roads pass through settled areas. Residents living in these areas are thus displaced and are resettled elsewhere. This causes disruption in social and psychological relations between residents as they relocate (Frank, 2011). Businesses that are forced to shut down to pave way for the construction of the highway eventually lose clients and thus revenue and eventually profit. Relocation to other areas attracts moving and other costs, which further hurts business. There’s also lost business as they try to build clientele in new locations. The construction of highways has also negatively and greatly affected the environment. The first and most visible impact to environment is that of the destruction of the human environment as homes and business premises are destroyed to pave room for construction. The expansion of highways, especially through natural habitats like forest lands, causes a severe degradation of wildlife and habitats with far reaching consequences. Migratory routes for wildlife are interfered with leading to fragmentation of species (Beckman, 2012). There’s also increased human-wildlife conflicts such as attacks on motorists by wild animals trying to cross highways as well as deaths to wild animals being knocked down by speeding vehicles. In very adverse effects, there is contamination of these habitats from noise and air pollution that may eventually lead to localized extinction of some species. The implementation of highway technologies also affects people’s health negatively. Air and noise pollution resulting from increased usage of highways by vehicles have become hazardous to the health of people. Increased emissions of gases from vehicles have led to increases in respiratory and cardiovascular ailments. The emergence and implementation of the highway technology has brought about far reaching effects. Society owes a lot to the presence of highways, without which life patterns would greatly be disrupted and reliance on other alternatives, such as water transport, would result. Such an alternative may not be as efficient especially for landlocked countries. The impacts to society, both negative and positive, have been significant. However, the gains made by society in the pursuit of this technology far outweigh the negative impacts. Communities and government can use these gains, such as creation of employment opportunities, business growth and development and devolved government functions to minimize the negative effects to society through increased participation. The other reason why the positives outweigh the negatives is the fact that most of the negative impacts of highways are results of human actions that can be easily avoided through the implementation of instruments such as the Social Impact Assessment (SIA) method. This method incorporates views from all stakeholders such as the community, government and private sector, involved in any project undertaking, such as that of highway construction. It analyses the impacts to human, wildlife, and environment and provides ways to correct adverse negative impacts (Frank, 2011). For instance, a road must not necessarily pass though a national park as an SIA may suggest an alternative route based on given established impacts. Through such methods, engineering of technologies can thus be responsible with minimal or even zero negative impact to society. In conclusion, a highway can generally be defined as any road that is public. It can also be described as a major road that connects any two or more points on land. Road transport being the most common form of transport the world over serves as one of the most important modes, especially in landlocked countries that do not have an access to the sea. Highways function as links between people and places. They have significantly transformed most functions of society including the political function, the economic and social functions. The construction major roads, highways and super highways have also brought about changes in the welfare of communities living near. Impacts, both positive and negative, on the environment have also been felt. Highways today act as key links between towns, counties, states and countries as well. Economically, highways have served to increase the seamless flow of people, goods and services. Businesses have developed along major transport corridors, creating employment opportunities and wealth creation and distribution. Some negative effects of highways include the disruption of settlement patterns as roads pass through settled areas. Residents living in these areas are thus displaced and are resettled elsewhere. This causes disruption in social and psychological relations between residents as they relocate. Businesses are forced to shut down to pave way for the constructions of the highway eventually losing clients and thus revenue and profit. Relocation to other areas attracts moving and other costs that further hurt business. References Beckman, J. (2012). Safe Passages: Highways, Wildlife, and Habitat Connectivity. New York: Island press. Herrmann, P. (2010). Highways, Crossroads and Cul de Sacs. New York: Books on Demand. Frank, V. (2011). New Directions in Social Impact Assessment: Conceptual and Methodological Advances. Massachusetts: Edward Elgar Publishing. Raballand, G. (2009). Transport Prices and Costs in Africa: A Review of the Main International Corridors. London: World Bank Publications. Robert, R. (2009). China into Africa: Trade, Aid, and Influence. New York: Brookings Institution Press. Read More