Singapore's 1.4 million parking lots might be redeveloped; car-lite by 2030
Louis · Aug 19, 2022 07:30 PM
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Reimagining, to go car-lite
Expanding public transportation in strategic locations
“Car-Lite Singapore” is an initiative that aims to reduce the number of cars on the road and expand other modes of transport such as MRTs and buses network. With this initiative by Centre for Liveable Cities (CLC), this leaves a huge opportunity to redevelop the parking lots in Singapore (that’s 1.4 million lots in total btw).
According to the Land Transport Authority (LTA), they’ve been working with the local communities to reimagine roadside parking lots, by providing wider footpaths or dedicated cycling paths. To improve the walking and cycling paths, making public transportation more convenient. This is similarly found in other cities like Melbourne and Oslo.
For example, there are already seven sites at the rooftops of Housing and Development Board (HDB) multi-storey car parks reserved for urban farming according to Singapore Food Agency (SFA).
Moreover, residential development in Kampong Bugis will adopt at least 30% reduction in car park lots while ten areas in Singapore were recently gazetted as car-lite areas, reducing parking spaces.
Advantages of reducing car park lots
These conversions will give Singapore a big opportunity to develop and to improve the efficiency on the use of space as stated by Dr Paul Barter, who teaches infrastructure policy at National University of Singapore (NUS).
To put things into perspective, there are more than 12,000 car parks in Singapore providing about 1.4 million parking lots. These are located in residential areas, public car parks, shopping malls, office buildings and other commercial buildings but yet parking is “the most inefficient, space-consuming way to provide access to a place,” Dr Barter added.
He stated that a multi-storey car park is about half the size of a three-room HDB flat. Imagine car parks being converted into a place where people will spend more time there, there will be more shopping and lifestyle, increasing the level of place-making. It’s also beneficial to the value of the real estate located there.
What could car parks become?
So, the real question is, what could car parks turn into that’s beneficial to the people in Singapore? Apart from urban farming on rooftops, a multi-storey car park can be converted into cultural parks or a multi-use building such as an event venue – a suggestion made by Dr Mak Chin Long, an infrastructure consultant from CPG Corporation.
Parking garage converted to event space in Miami
In pushing for car-lite vision, he added that under-utilised car parks can be a hub for shared mobility services, with parking or electrical charging spaces.
Besides that, it can also be converted for commercial use such as cafes or central kitchens as suggested by MP Jamus Lim of Singapore during a Committee of Supply 2021 debate.
Which car parks would be the first to go?
The first car park to be converted is work-related car parks as it presents the biggest opportunity – said Dr Barter, because these cars are parked for 9 to 10 hours a day on average and if a small percentage of these people takes public transport, it’ll free up a lot of parking space.
In fact, a small reduction in the car population could have a significantly larger impact on freeing up the parking space because a lot of the car parks are located where the person lives or works – stated by Scott Dunn, an Advisory Board member of Urban Land Institute.
An excellent example in Singapore is the basement parking space of Chevron House on Raffles Place, which was converted into a gym.
One of the main challenges in conversion is that certain car parks have low floor-to-ceiling ratio, as they were solely designed for parking lots and nothing more. – pointed out by Mr Dunn.
Another challenge is how would the public react? If the conversion goes too far too fast, many people will be frustrated as there would then be insufficient parking lots as stated by Dr Barter. In that case, it is best to make incremental changes in strategic locations so the people will be able to adapt, he said.
In reducing Singaporeans’ reliance on cars and promoting the use of sustainable alternatives, there needs to be a significant expansion in public transports that are convenient to the people. It all comes down to convenience as people would opt for the easiest mode of transport to their desired destination.
Louis is an automotive writer whose background was in the legal industry. Jumping from law firms to car dealerships, he finally found a career he loves and will never have to work a day in his life. He enjoys detailing his car and going to the gym during his free time.
