# Rural Road Assessment Method for Sustainable Territorial Development
## 4 Discussion  
The contributions to technical, economic, environmental, and social sustainability of a sample of 101 roads, which did not exceed 20%, were determined based on the results of the proposed mechanism (Figure 3). Socially, regional roads were limited due to the lack of recognition of cultural elements within their area of influence, most of which do not allow accessibility between indigenous locations nor to education, health, or emergency services. The environmental aspect of the roads does not ensure a reduction in noise and particulate matter dispersion nor in alterations to the surrounding landscape. Similarly, the lack of aggregates in the area, the absence of drainage works to complement the transport services, and the misalignment of the routes detract from the technical contribution of the roads in the sample. Likewise, the economic aspect is limited due to the low profitability and costly maintenance bi-directionally affecting agricultural development and tourism. These results are consistent with the previous studies by the research team in which the criteria of greatest weight, according to multidisciplinary experts in the region, are those in which roads fail to demonstrate evidence that justifies their contribution [13]. Furthermore, these results are partially justified due to the lack of integration of multisectoral public policies (i.e., health, education, or social development) aligned with the rural infrastructure development policies and the lack of integrated evaluation criteria [2,3,8]. The absence of intersectoral integration and the factors that restrict the enhanced contribution of roads are not exclusive to this case study location. Similar situations have also been documented in other regions in Latin America and the Caribbean [1]. Nevertheless, certain cases in the region are notable for their outcomes concerning most of the roads, achieving up to 60% environmental contribution and 40% economic contribution, which are documented as extreme cases in Figure 3. At this stage, roads are selected according to the best of what exists in the assessment context. This aligns with the objective of sustainability, as the comparison pertains not to different geographic areas but to advancements in the development and enhancement within the same environment [29,47]. In any case, maximizing the four dimensions of sustainability through the Pareto-optimal conditions  
Figure 7: Dynamic behavior of the contribution to sustainable territorial development of basic rural roads, Araucania Region. results in the non-compensation among the sustainability dimensions. This ensures an ethical balance in sustainable development by establishing equality in assessing the social, environmental, technical, and economic dimensions of sustainability [12, 48]. Based on the interactions of the model, three indicators are identified as having the greatest impact and are the least influenced by the other indicators of the assessment system. These are _Productive Potential (I24)_, _Tourism Potential (I25)_, and _Road Maintenance (I27)_, all of which are economic in nature. The recognition of cultural values (social) also has a high impact; however, it is influenced by other system indicators, which means that its intervention alone has a limited long-term effect. This agrees with the previous findings by [PERSON] et al. [49] and [PERSON] [50], that in some geographical locations, it becomes increasingly evident that economic variables predominantly influence infrastructure decision making, surpassing other considerations. Under this logic, roads _R35_ and _S907_ approach an ideal contribution to the long-term sustainability even if they are not the first roads selected in the first instance without the interaction effect (time zero). The results are valid within the framework of the context that applies the model and proposed mechanism. According to the above, this tool and the selected roads constitute the input for the agencies responsible for investing in and planning rural infrastructure.