Criteria identification for sustainable highways in Pakistan

Pakistan is a developing country, and like most developing countries it utilizes a considerable portion of its annual budget on development projects particularly in highways and roads infrastructure. Development and construction of highways and roads may however have a negative impact on the surrounding environment. To control this negative impact, green and sustainable highway initiatives have been undertaken in Some European countries and in North America. Rating systems have been developed in these countries to determine the sustainable performance of highways. Pakistan does not have a rating system and thus, to develop a rating system, it is necessary to identify the criteria across which the rating system will measure the sustainable performance of highways. This paper, therefore, aims to identify sustainable criteria elements in highway projects lifecycle. The identification process was completed by means of reviewing literature and by comparing other rating systems. As a result different sustainable criteria and subcriteria elements were identified in different phases of lifecycle of Highways I,e Planning, Design, Construction and Operation and Maintenance.