Faster, cheaper and safer. Networks of modern roads were built to meet the ever-increasing demand of land transport.
Modern roads originated in response to the requirements of the rapidly expanding automobile industry. Attempts to build road vehicles, including cars, carriages and trams, with steam-powered and internal combustion engines started as early as the beginning of the 19th century, laying the foundations for the invention of the modern car. Developments in the techniques and materials of road building were at hand to meet the increasing demand for faster and safe roads. In the Arab and Ottoman world, new roads were built at the initiative of the Ottoman sultans or of the local reformers, or by the colonial powers. The new roads affected entire regions, reshaping traditional communication routes according to the commercial needs of a globalised world. Later in the early 20th century, more roads were built in the Arab states.