Parking Lots

Purpose and Location

In urban areas, in particular, space is at a premium, and if vehicles can be parked along the curbs of streets, traffic may become clogged. This leads to problems with pollution, safety, and inefficient use of time because people find it difficult to find a space near their destination. In some cases, people will be tempted to park illegally or to double park, which will exacerbate the problems for all drivers in the area. Clearly, therefore, it is important for urban planners to ensure that appropriate parking space is provided for residents and visitors. Limited on-street parking space can then be retained for emergency services.

Because urban space tends to be very expensive, it is important to minimize the amount of space occupied by each vehicle. This is generally approached through employing multistory structures and basement designs, both of which can be efficient uses of space. In Singapore, for example, a large proportion of the department stores and malls have extensive basement parking lots that use computerized signage to alert drivers of how many vacant spaces are available on each level and, with a system of green and red lights, exactly where on an individual level a vacancy exists. Regardless [Page 1035]of Singapore's extensive public transportation network, the use of personal vehicles is still popular in the country, especially for family outings and shopping or leisure trips. These trips are more expensive and are regulated further by the use of electronic ticketing during peak-hour traffic periods. The central retail area would quickly become overrun with traffic without such advanced management systems.

Many of the vehicles in this parking lot at the Cincinnati Zoo in Cincinnati, Ohio, in May 2013 are shaded by a roof made with solar panels; the electricity generated by the panels is used to help power some of the zoo's other facilities. In developed countries, parking facilities are making use of similarly innovative technologies to contribute toward sustainable energy use, while others are using new technologies to reduce labor costs, such as mobile telephone payment systems.

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