Parking standards are often a barrier to urban construction. Municipalities can create more space for rooftop projects and other urban housing if they manage parking standards wisely. The provinces of Utrecht and South Holland, Platform31, and Aedes have developed a guideline that shows what possibilities they have for this.
“In the most densely populated province of the Netherlands, building in existing neighborhoods is very important,” says deputy Anne Koning of the Province of South Holland. “It is the way to help cities and villages move forward and to provide home seekers with a home in a nice neighborhood.”
Within the built-up area, parking space is unfortunately a major hurdle. Koning: “Housing corporations, municipalities, and developers constantly tell us that parking is a bottleneck for building homes. Fortunately, parking standards are not a natural law; by creating smart rules, much more is possible than you think.”
Actual Car Ownership
The current parking standards are based on target figures and adhere to the principle: the less urban and the less central, the more parking spaces are needed. This means that the standards take little account of the actual car ownership of residents.
In practice, the wallet and the composition of a household often determine the number of cars. For example, students and seniors are less likely to own a car than families. The type of housing, the location in the city, and the space on the street also determine the need for parking spaces. Therefore, it is important to look at the actual situation.
You can read more about this in the guideline for Parking and Rooftopping (opens in a new window).
Webinar
Platform31, Aedes, and the Province of South Holland are organizing a webinar on flexibly dealing with parking standards (opens in a new window) on May 22. Here we will explain the guideline and present a tool that municipalities can use to adjust parking standards to actual car ownership.
