GROWTH and EXTENT of
PARKING INFRASTRUCTURE
in PHOENIX

Chris Hoehne, Civil, Environmental, and Sustainable Engineering, Arizona State University
Mikhail Chester, Civil, Environmental, and Sustainable Engineering, Arizona State University
Andrew Fraser, Civil, Environmental, and Sustainable Engineering, Arizona State University
David King, School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning, Arizona State University

Residential off-street
Non-residential off-street
On-street
Total parking growth in metro Phoenix (urbanized Maricopa County) from 1940 to 2017 (left). Parking densities are shown at the Census blockgroup level in spaces per hectare (1 hectare = 10,000 square meters). The frequency of binned parking densities by blockgroup is shown in the bottom left. Click on the residential off-street, non-residential off-street, and on-street thumbnails for respective high resolution animations.

There is little knowledge of how much parking infrastructure exists in cities despite mounting evidence that abundant and underpriced parking creates economic, environmental, and social problems. Urban parking requirements are very precise and routinely enforced despite the fact that most cities have little to no knowledge about their own parking supply. To further explore these issues, a parking inventory for metropolitan Phoenix, Arizona, USA is developed by cross-referencing geospatial cadastral and roadway data with minimum parking requirements. Metropolitan Phoenix is chosen because it is relatively young, rapidly growing, highly sprawled, and car dependent. Historical growth of parking is also estimated by linking year of property development to required off-street and nearby on-street parking spaces.

As of 2017, we estimate that there are 12.2 million parking spaces in the metropolitan region with 4.04 million inhabitants, 2.81 million registered personal vehicles, and 1.84 million jobs. Growth of parking in metro Phoenix has also been significant; since 1960, 10.9 million spaces have been added to the region compared to a population growth of 3.41 million, vehicle fleet growth of 2.63 million, and employment growth of 1.56 million. Since the 2008 recession, parking growth in metro Phoenix has significantly slowed, but continued urban growth combined with substantial minimum parking requirements may promote more parking infrastructure than is needed. Planners and policy makers should value quantifying the supply of parking in urban areas and consider reforming parking standards to promote sustainable urban growth.

Publication (forthcoming):

Christopher G. Hoehne, Mikhail V. Chester, Andrew M. Fraser, and David A. King
Valley of the sun-drenched parking space: the growth, extent, and implications of parking infrastructure in Phoenix
Cities, 2019, 89, pp. 186-198, doi: 10.1016/j.cities.2019.02.007.

Publication figures:

Publication data:

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