THE IMPACT OF ROAD TRANSPORTATION NETWORKS ON THE TERRITORIAL DISTRIBUTION OF POPULATION AND SETTLEMENTS. CASE STUDY: NORTH-WEST DEVELOPMENT REGION OF ROMANIA

This study examines the impact of road transportation networks on the territorial distribution of population and settlements in the North-West Development Region of Romania from 1992 to 2021. Focusing on six counties: Cluj, S & abreve;laj, Bihor, Satu Mare, Maramures, and Bistrita-N & abreve;s & abreve;ud, the research uses the Pearson correlation coefficient to analyze the relationship between Road network Density (RDI) and Population and Settlements distribution (PSI) over four census years (1992, 2002, 2011, 2021). RDI, widely used metric in transportation planning, urban development, and environmental studies, measures road density by considering the length and category of roads (European, National and County Road) for each road type in each county. PSI, an original metric introduced in this study, combines data on the population of each locality with its rank based on governmental classification and is calculated for every European, National, and County Road in each county. The analysis reveals a significant correlation between the road network of higher importance (measured by road category) and population distribution in the territory. Thus, the more important the road is, the more population it attracts. Urban and suburban areas, particularly those with enhanced road connectivity, have experienced population growth, while more isolated rural regions have faced declines due to demographic changes and migration.