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Parking in market places - Its problems and solutions  

School of Planning and Architecture, Bhopal Omkar Parishwad 

Angita Das 

 

Abstract

Amongst the various localities to which a vehicle frequents, the most extensive is in the market place. With the near exponential increase in the number of vehicles and the limited space available for its mobility and parking, the problem of finding space for car park is increasing and hence the subject gaining importance in today’s scenario. In order to find probable solutions to car parking to facilitate a hassle free vehicular and pedestrian movement an in depth study needs to be done. Along with the comfort of pedestrians, the ease to park for the car drivers also needs to be stressed. The above-mentioned aspects of parking in markets are considered with examples to aid it’s in depth study.

Introduction

The growth in the number of private car owners and the demand for car parking has increased manifold. The speed of this change is scary. It took 30 years for India to reach the first million mark for personal vehicles in 1971. In 1981-1991, India added another 14 million. Out of this, the amount of time that a vehicle frequents market places is the maximum. Due to unavailability of space in parking, people park their vehicles in undesignated parking areas thus causing problem to other car drivers, pedestrians and this leading to traffic jam. Providing more roads and more space for individual parking cannot be the solution. We still have the time to act and prevent the future explosion. If we plan alternative mobility systems, we can avoid car centric growth. Indian cities already have a huge strength in the usage of public transport and in its tradition of walking and cycling. Indian cities need mobility, not cars.

Out of the different locations to which a vehicle frequents its use is most extensive in market places. These market places are where the buzz of all the activities takes place. It contains shops, commercial establishments, retail outlets, street vendors etc. One goes to marketplaces more than often for his daily needs, for leisure, special purposes, for some events organised during festive season. Therefore, the basic types of parking in a market place are surface parking, underground parking and multilevel parking. Again, with the growing complexities of parking problems another set of parking types have come into existence e.g. valet parking stacked parking etc.

 

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