GEOSPATIAL MONITORING OF THE ROAD NETWORK OF THE DNIPROPETROV REGION
Authors: KHOLOSHIN Ihor , Syvyi Myroslav , PANTELEEVA Natalia , Hanchuk Olena 
Published: June 2024

The development of the road transport network is considered to be one of the crucial factors of the sustainable development of the country and regions. The presence of an extensive and topologically efficient road network and their appropriate technical condition ensure not only transport accessibility of settlements and road safety and stability, but also the speed and volume of transportation.
The geographical location of Dnipropetrovsk oblast determines the important role of the region's road transport network in the formation of both external and intra-regional socio-economic relations. The oblast's road transport network consists of a few tens of thousands of kilometres of roads of various types of surfaces, and it has a complex internal structure, specific organization, and functional orientation. Therefore, geospatial monitoring of roads in Dnipropetrovsk oblast is an effective instrument for solving a number of regional transportation problems.
On the basis of crowdsourced geospatial data from Open Street Map using QGIS, the study of spatial and territorial features of networks (road length, level of spatial complexity, structure, provision, stability, density, etc.) of different types of roads both for the oblast as a whole and over its administrative districts was conducted.
The calculation of the total length of the region's roads using geospatial analysis showed a figure of 70823 km (all types of pavement), of which 3005 km are roads of national importance (4% of the total length), 33219 km are roads of local importance (47%) and 34599 km are roads in settlements (49%).
It has been established that the structure of the state-owned road network in the oblast varies from a centralized type in the western (with a central hub in the city of Kryvyi Rih), northern (with a central hub in the village of Mahdalynivka) and north-eastern (with a central hub in the city of Pavlohrad) parts to a distributed type in other regions. It should be noted that the centralized structure of the western part of the region is formed by national and regional roads, the northern part by territorial roads, and the north-eastern part by international and territorial roads. This plays an important role in assessing the efficiency and sustainability of the network.
The length of state roads of the territorial type in the region significantly dominates the length of international and national roads, which, given the European integration orientation of Ukraine's economy, indicates shortcomings in the state of the region's road transport network. At the same time, almost all international roads pass through the oblast's cities and towns, which does not meet the requirements for this type of road. Therefore, given the favourable geographical location of the oblast, the formation of a new network of highways through its territory will ensure intensive socio-economic development of both the region and Ukraine as a whole.
The average density of the national highway network is only 0.0049 km/km². This is several times less than the rate used in developed countries for citywide highways. The hot spots on the map are connected with the intersections of roads of different levels and are mostly located outside the territories of settlements. This allows us to conclude that the road network framework is a compromise between the historical location of settlements, natural and geographical features of the territory (terrain, hydrology, geological structure, etc.) and construction cost constraints.
The length of local roads is several times longer than the length of national roads. As a result, their average density for the region is 1.04 km/km², with the highest concentration in the central parts of the region and the lowest in the east and south of the region.
The analysis of the region's roads by administrative units (raions) confirmed their geospatial diversity. The longest roads are observed in the most economically developed districts – Dnipro and Kryvyi Rih raions, and the shortest – in Pavlohrad and Nikopol raions. The same tendency is typical for local roads and roads in the settlements of the raions. However, the longest roads of national importance are in Synelnykove, Dnipro and Kamianske raions.
All types of roads in the raions of the eastern and north-eastern parts of the oblast (Novomoskovsk, Pavlohrad, and Synelnykove) are characterized by the highest figures for total density, demonstrating the best transport provision of roads in Dnipropetrovsk oblast in contrast to the western districts. The main reason for this is the low population size in the east of the oblast.
Keywords: geospatial monitoring, road network, network structure, transport availability, road density, Dnipropetrovsk region.