Step 4: Modeling Rural Population within 2 km of All-Season Roads

This final step involves identifying the population within the buffered road network and calculating the indicator.

12. Identify rural population within road buffer: To estimate the rural population residing within 2 km of all-season roads, we will again use the Clip tool. This operation will isolate only those rural population points that fall within the buffered road network.

Choose Vector > Geoprocessing Tools > Clip.
Set ‘Input layer’ to your rural population layer for the analysis area (e.g., Kemin_rural.shp).
Set ‘Overlay layer’ to your 2 km road buffer layer (e.g., Kemin_roads_2km.shp).
Specify an ‘Output layer’ path and name (e.g., D:/SDG_911_Project/RuralPopulation_within2kmroads_Kemin.shp).
Click ‘Run’.

Clipping rural population points to 2km all-season road buffer.

Final map of rural population points living within 2km of all-season road.

13. Calculate basic statistics for population (within buffer): To derive the total population within the 2 km buffer, we will use the “Basic statistics for fields” tool.

In the ‘Processing Toolbox’ (accessible via Processing > Toolbox), search for “statistics” and choose Vector analysis > Basic statistics for fields.
Set ‘Input layer’ to the layer created in the previous step (e.g., RuralPopulation_within2kmroads_Kemin.shp).
Set ‘Field to calculate statistics on’ to your population attribute field (e.g., KGZ_pop).
Keep ‘Statistics (optional)’ as default or select desired statistics.
Click ‘Run’.

Dialog box where ‘Basic statistics for fields’ tool is located.

‘Basic statistics for fields’ dialog box.

14. Review statistics (population within buffer): Open the generated HTML link in the ‘Results Viewer’ (or locate the temporary HTML file) to review the basic statistics for the population data within the 2 km all-season roads buffer. Note the ‘Sum’ value, which represents the total rural population within 2 km of an all-season road.

Basic statistics for the population data within the 2 km buffer of all-season roads.

15. Generate statistics for total rural population (for analysis area): Next, calculate the total rural population for your entire analysis area (e.g., Kemin rayon) using the same “Basic statistics for fields” tool.

Set ‘Input layer’ to your total rural population layer for the analysis area (e.g., Kemin_rural.shp).
Set ‘Field to calculate statistics on’ to your population attribute field (e.g., KGZ_pop).
Click ‘Run’.
Note the ‘Sum’ value, which represents the total rural population in your defined analysis area.

Basic statistics for the total rural population in Kemin rayon.

Calculating SDG Indicator 9.1.1: The SDG Indicator 9.1.1 is calculated as the ratio of the rural population living within 2 km of an all-season road to the total rural population.

Formula for SDG 9.1.1:

16. Perform calculation: Calculate the SDG indicator using the values obtained from the statistics in steps 14 and 15. For Kemin rayon using provided data:

(1) Rural population within 2 km of an all-season road (from Step 14): 593.0
(2) Total rural population (from Step 15): 593.0
SDG 9.1.1 = (1)/(2) = 593.0/593.0 = 1
This indicates that, in this specific example, all rural population in Kemin rayon lives within 2 km of an all-season road based on the input data.