Importance of Considering Car Parking At Early Stages of Architectural Project Planning
Parking is one of the crucial issues of our times. According to World Energy Outlook (WEO), a recent study by the International Energy Agency (IEA),passenger car ownership in India will grow by 775 per cent over the next 24 years. Mind boggling, but hardly surprising, since passenger vehicle ownership has nearly tripled in the last decade! The WEO report adds that the number of vehicles will grow from the current “20 per 1,000 inhabitants to 175 per 1,000 people in 2040, and overall road passenger vehicle activity increases more than six-times”. In such a scenario where cities get more crowded and space is limited, sustainable planning and development becomes increasingly more important. Automated Parking Systems are the obvious solution for sustainable car parking, and in many cases, more cost-effective to install and maintain. Automated facilities reduce cost as they require less lighting and ventilation since they have very little human intervention or access. There are many other advantages such as more cars per site area, no pedestrian access to the facility and very few attendants. The onus for this planning lies with the municipal authorities – and to a large extent, with the realty industry along with architects. As more and more residential, commercial and infrastructure projects come up, builders/developers and architects need to give, serious thought to car parking for their occupants, users and visitors. Consideration must be given to “parking” and its relationship to the built environment which it serves. The form and function of the car parking system can have a determining influence on the successfulness of the project design concept.