Main Street On Steroids: Living in the Global Economy

The infrastructure consists of parking towers, a cargo container rack, and the S.MART showroom.

The parking towers are a necessary response to the need for space in an urban environment. By stacking the cars and bringing them to their parking space by means of an elevator system, massive amounts of structure and floor area are saved in comparison to current ramp-based parking structures. Furthermore, the car elevator, which is powered by electricity rather than the combustible engine of a car, can have a carbon neutral source such as wind, solar or hydroelectric power generation. Efficiencies are also realized for the parked car; with an automated parking system there is no longer time wasted searching for a parking space and or losing one’s car in the sea of parking. The system as designed can handle 1800 cars. This parking system takes up 5,200 sq. ft. of the site, which is roughly one percent of the area that would have been necessary with a standard parking lot.