Parking spaces are for cars, right?
What is scarce is expensive. That is an economic law. So why do we in this country squander so much open (public) space on free parking? That policy weighs heavily on the liveability of our cities and towns.
How much place does parking grab?
Cars gobble up quite a bit of our scarce open space. Did you know that in Flanders there is a whopping 25m² of parking space per inhabitant. In total, that amounts to 20,000 hectares. Enough for over 7 million parking spaces, more than there are Flemings (see Spatial Report Flanders). Not to mention the many hectares needed for the estimated 200,000 to 500,000 additional cars by 2030. At 50m² for each car, the land take is likely to amount to an extra 2,500 ha of parking or 25,000,000m²!
The vehicle that promised us unlimited freedom in past decades - and was able to deliver on that promise in the beginning - has today become an insidious addiction. One that is fed with ever more expensively paid for asphalt, concrete and sacrificed open space. And all the while we know with certainty that space to move, to meet and relax is vital for our physical and emotional health.
Corona as a powerhouse
Google the words 'parking spaces' and 'disappear' and chances are the word 'protest' will come up more than once in the results. People are so used to having a free space on their doorstep that they see it as an acquired right. Even more so: as a duty of the government to provide that parking space on the most precious square metres in the city.
When the need is greatest, we better realise how badly we need that open space. The overcrowded parks, bike lanes and footpaths in 2020 are perfect proof of this. So what corona has certainly also done is revive the debate around the function and interpretation of public space. It is noticeable that the one-sided approach of paving open space for parking is being questioned more often. A change that is visible at both administrative level and among residents themselves. Anyway, quite a few municipalities already showed flexibility during the corona-lockdown to give active road users extra room to move.
Parklets challenge the status quo
A parklet is an alternative use of a car park: a mini-park, play area, meeting place ... But, its installation is not always without controversy. In June, for example, the Schaerbeek municipality removed an 'illegal' street garden, triggering a storm of reactions, negative and positive. Now the little garden is back in place with support from the Brussels Region. But Schaerbeek itself also seems to have come round and now supports the Buumplanters. This is a project in which local residents transform car parks into small, green oases of rest and meeting.
The Brussels Region clearly believes in the concept because it has just made €140,000 available for parklets to convert unused parking spaces into green spaces or give them another function. In Hasselt , the city council is starting a pilot project on pop-up parks to create rest areas in predominantly 'paved neighbourhoods' as it is called. In Ghent, the existing car park on Maaseikplein was temporarily transformed into an urban orchard as an experiment. Since then, the asphalt of the car park has been broken up to make way for an orchard with picnic benches and a playground. And just at the end of 2018, Mobiel 21 won first place in an ideas competition in Graz, Austria, with its Park2Park concept.
Action from below
In 2020, thanks to 'Conquer Space', dozens of associations seized the opportunity to show that there are other possibilities with parking space. A good example is that of vzw Planché and its 12m² project, which calls on people to be creative with the surface of a parking space under the motto: limited in space, unlimited in imagination! Making room for more greenery, more play and relaxation, more encounters, more neighbourhoods on a human scale are the keywords in these actions.
All these actions have an important signal function: they show that there is room for experimentation and that both residents and policy-makers dare to think about alternative uses of scarce public space. At the same time, they raise awareness among other residents to create wider support for more open space in a healthier, greener and more liveable municipality. Parklets are thus ideal for visualising what our public space could look like if we choose greenery instead of parked cars.
What do we gain?
More space for relaxation and meeting
Research by Support Centre for Youth Policy and Youth Work among vulnerable young people shows that 55% do not feel well, 76% lack space at home and 60% have no garden. Just imagine living in a modest flat in the concrete jungle. Then any strip of green or unpaved open space is a relief and a chance to escape the delusion of the day. 'Nature as oxygen for the neighbourhood' as the Association for Space and Planning describes it.
More room for active mobility
Especially in the city, where space is scarce, parking space competes with pavement, cycle path, playground, terrace and greenery. Although people in big cities own fewer cars, they live closer together resulting in more cars per square kilometre.
Meeting climate targets
Europe imposes a 40% reduction of greenhouse gases on its member states by 2030 compared to 1990. Research in Amsterdam shows that people are more likely to get rid of their cars if parking becomes more expensive or scarce. So less parking also means less greenhouse gas emissions. And it also puts that 50/50 modal shift within reach.
More coolness
More greenery and water in public spaces help dampen cities' notorious heat islands. In city centres, the average temperature is up to 3°C higher during hot summers. The European Cool Towns project also sees the benefits of more greenery and water as a remedy for increasing heat stress in cities.
Better water management
Less paving also means less water running directly into the sewer system. Green islands retain water better and ensure evaporation and cooling.
Cheaper houses
Property developers can build cheaper houses in urban areas if they do not have to build one or more parking spaces for each house. Provided, of course, that facilities for cycling and public transport are available.
More turnover
One car parking space fits 10 bicycles. The bill for local traders is quickly made. And if some extra space is then freed up for a terrace, the picture looks especially pretty.
Parking vs. public space
Urban public (open) space is like ice creams on a hot summer day: Everyone wants one but there are never enough. The good news is that municipalities do not need expensive toolkits or urban planning interventions for healthier and more liveable streets. The sting is in the amount of vision and guts the same municipalities need to put in the work. We said it in an earlier article on parking management: parking policy needs to become less emotional.
Parking management: an opportunity just up for grabs
Parking management should be at the heart of every mobility plan across the country. With minimal efforts, policymakers can achieve very large benefits and, in the same breath, distribute their public space in a more balanced way. Simple interventions can already make a city or village centre much more liveable and pleasant for cyclists and pedestrians, but also and especially for the people who live there. Through a ParkPAD audit, for example, municipalities get a better view of parking and bring all stakeholders around the table to work out solutions.
That parklets are appearing on the streets in various forms are a sign of a growing awareness both among government and citizens. Climate change, air quality and the need for space for social gathering and interaction are driving an urgent reinterpretation of our public space. One in which people are central and not a block of steel on wheels that we just park somewhere 95% of the time.
Want to get started with better parking policies?
Our colleague and parking policy expert, Glenn Godin, is happy to help. Contact him using the form below.
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