Cars and parking
A car takes ten to twelve square metres parked and around a hundred in motion, sits idle 95% of the time, and is the user to whom the most public space has been ceded in a century. Free on-street parking is, in Donald Shoup's words, the city's most expensive and least visible subsidy.
Shoup showed in The High Cost of Free Parking (2005) that mandatory parking in every building makes housing dearer and multiplies car trips. The evidence on induced demand is just as solid: adding lanes does not relieve congestion, it attracts more traffic. That is why modern policies charge for parking and reallocate space.
Videos on this term (11)
- Mobility
Your Free Parking Costs Way More Than You Think: Shoup's Numbers
A supermarket lot could hold a hundred homes: Donald Shoup's high cost of free parking, minimums copied from…
3 min read - Public space
Innovation or Disguised Austerity in Tactical Urbanism?
Tactical urbanism was born as a rehearsal for the permanent and often ends as cuts with colours: Lydon and Garcia,…
3 min read - Urban ecology
Smart for Whom? The Other Side of Smart City Rankings
Smart city rankings do not describe the city but define it: what they measure, what they omit, how weighting…
3 min read - Public space
Great Streets by Allan Jacobs: What Makes a Street Great
Great Streets (1993) by Allan Jacobs compares the world's best streets at the same scale and draws eight…
Allan Jacobs 3 min read - Mobility
Electric Mobility in the City: Benefits, Limits and What to Electrify
Electric mobility cuts emissions and noise but does not solve congestion or space. What Peter Newman and Donald…
3 min read - Mobility
Shared Mobility in Cities: What Works According to Shaheen and Cervero
Shared mobility cuts cars only if the city governs it. What Susan Shaheen and Robert Cervero measure about car…
3 min read - Public space
Pedestrianization: Definition and Benefits from Gehl and Appleyard
Pedestrianization gives the street back to people. What it is, how Jan Gehl and Donald Appleyard justify it and…
3 min read - Mobility
Parking Policies: Shoup, Willson and Urban Mobility
Parking policies decide how many cars enter the city. What Donald Shoup and Richard Willson propose on minimums and…
3 min read - Mobility
Efficient Public Transport: Lessons from Cervero and Kenworthy
Public transport decides whether a city is sustainable and accessible. What sets working systems apart according to…
2 min read - Mobility
Urban Congestion: Strategies That Work According to Downs and Jones
Urban congestion is not solved by adding lanes. What Anthony Downs and Peter Jones explain, what congestion pricing…
2 min read - Mobility
Urban Cycling: What Makes a City Cycle According to Pucher and Buehler
Urban cycling depends on infrastructure and policy, not climate or culture. What John Pucher and Ralph Buehler…
3 min read
