Shanghai is trying out “shared parking” spaces to cope with increasing population density, which makes setting aside areas for cars an inefficient use of land.
The mobile app “Shanghai Parking” was recently launched, where people can to see the fees and opening hours of more than 3,300 parking lots across the city.
By making information on parking spaces public, the app aims to help people find places where they can leave their vehicles right away, instead of trying out parking garages that may already be full.
According to official data, about 40 percent of the city’s cars do not have their own parking spaces. But a recent study of mixed use areas found that there was a glut in parking spaces of over 65 percent. This is a result of commercial establishments that have parking for customers. These spaces are empty at night when establishments are closed.
Industry insiders said the cooperation of businesses and property management offices will be required for the concept to succeed.
“If you upload your data, your spaces and revenue become transparent to the government and other people. Most property management offices would rather keep it to themselves,” said Zhao Xiang, a software developer working on parking solutions.
Only 10 percent of the city’s thousands of parking garages have made their data public.
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