Anyone who has had the displeasure of finding a parking spot in a major city knows it can take a very long time to strike gold. Los Angeles residents sacrifice more than 80 hours a year hunting for a place to leave their cars, and from London to Frankfurt the situation in other urban centres is not much better.
Though individually tiny, parking spots quietly shape urban landscapes. Most US cities dedicate at least 25% of their developable land to them, and some even more. That land use not only shapes how a city looks; covering large areas with heat-absorbing asphalt makes summers hotter and increases flood risk by preventing stormwater drainage.
Some municipal officials are starting to rethink parking’s priority — and what it means for how people get around.
Vienna is taking a firm stance
Long known among residents for slow traffic and frustrating parking hunts, Austria’s capital is taking an unusual approach: instead of adding new lots, it is removing on-street parking. The aim is to break up concrete to cool the city in summer and to encourage alternative transit.
With more than 350 projects focused on converting asphalt into green and public space, Vienna has removed many parking spots, even in central Neuer Markt. Once lined with car bays next to major tourist sites, the square has been pedestrianised and filled with trees and seating. One central artery was turned into a Dutch-inspired cycling street, where 140 parking spots made way for 1.3 kilometres (0.8 miles) of bike lanes and planting.
These larger interventions have paved the way for “neighbourhood oasis” projects that allow residents to petition district governments to convert individual parking spaces into community gardens, outdoor dining areas or play spaces. And there’s been another notable change: no more free parking anywhere. In 2022 Vienna introduced city-wide parking management, making all street parking payable and limiting non-residents to two hours.
Why it works in Vienna
While parking in central Vienna is still often difficult, the city has ensured drivers have options. It has established several park-and-ride facilities — large garages with cheap all-day parking directly linked to public transit, which is affordable, well-connected and fast.
Ensuring residents can still get around is vital to winning support. “We have to take people on board,” Ina Homeier, a planner at Vienna’s Department of Urban Planning and Development, told DW. “We have to ask: how do you want your neighbourhood? Do you want it to be filled with cars and without any trees, or do you want something different?”
Expanding paid parking zones brings in €180 million ($209 million) annually, which the city reinvests in cycling infrastructure to encourage alternative mobility. Vienna’s green agenda has coincided with residents using cars 37% less than in the 1990s. Polling indicates more than two-thirds of residents favour reducing parking and creating more green space, though Homeier says more minds still need to be won.
“There’s been very complicated politics around taking back some of the space we’ve accorded the automobile, because for people who drive — and many people have no choice but to do so — it’s considered an attack on their livelihoods and the way they get around,” said Henry Grabar, author of Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World.
That’s especially true in car-centric America, where 92% of households own at least one car. Drivers are a significant political group and influence local policies and planning, making Vienna-style reforms challenging.
Other cities are trying it too
Many US cities are experimenting despite those challenges. Dallas converted a sprawling downtown parking lot into a 3.7-acre public park. New York and San Francisco have turned pandemic-era pop-up sidewalk and curbside dining into permanent public space. Raising street parking prices can both reduce demand and raise revenue. “There are lots of cities that are starting to realize the opportunity that parking offers for cities that have relatively limited budgets,” Dana Yanocha, a researcher at the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy, told DW. “Streets are essentially one of the most valuable assets cities have.”
Some US cities, including San Jose and Austin, are removing zoning requirements that force new developments to include minimum numbers of parking spaces. That frees developers to use space for housing or amenities and helps shift expectations around car use.
But Homeier stresses that changing mindsets requires offering choices. “You cannot reduce anything without offering a good alternative. That’s true in general, but especially for cars, which many people feel they have a right to have. You need to offer a cheap and better alternative.”
Edited by: Tamsin Walker