Road networks are the most basic yet significant permanent infrastructure. With the growing population and demands for urbanization, road networks are increasing intertwined with the natural environment and urban cities. Hence there is a need to understand the dynamics of the road networks and their impacts from a socio-ecological development perspective. This article is a thorough review of 35 articles with the aim to understand and review the various elements that may be impacted by the road infrastructure and the methods adopted by researchers in their study of those elements. It is found that there has been extensive work conducted in road networks from a traffic prediction and management perspective, but understanding of the road network impacts were fragmented and highly constrained to case-by-case studies. Understanding from these highlights the need to leverage network modelling methodologies from a socio-ecological perspective for developing more urban sustainable road systems.