Under current regulations, in lieu of providing their quota of car parks required for new proposals, developers may choose to make a financial contribution to the Port Adelaide Centre Car Parking fund. According to AdelaideNow.com.au, revenue raised by this fund goes towards upgrading or building new car parks in the area.

As it stands, developers must pay $7200 for every carpark they are short of their quota, however under the new plan this will be slashed to $720. More information on the council's car parking fund can be found on the City of Port Adelaide Enfield site here.

Councillor Bruce Johansen, who moved the motion to lower the charge, said the previous fee was too expensive, and deterred business owners from coming to the Port.

Initially the policy was implemented to penalise businesses who did not adequately cover their parking requirements, but it has had the unintended impact of frightening away small business owners, who are evidently taking their investment elsewhere.

Not all city officials agree with the move, with city council CEO Harry Weirda saying that the fund was a good instrument to help encourage or deter development, but at $720 the impact would be watered down. Cr Johansen disagrees with Mr Weirda saying each proposal should stand on its own merits.

In November, we reported that the cost of property prices for car parks in Hong Kong was going through the roof, following the introduction of measures from the government to cool the cost of property prices.

Car parking spaces are now selling for more than some homes, with AU$276,000 being paid for a space in November; another sold for US$385,000 in March. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, two spaces in the commercial district were recently offered $US640,000 per space.

Home prices have nearly doubled since early 2009, driven largely by wealthy buyers from mainland China. A typical 55-square-metre apartment now costs about $US577,000, with prices soaring into the millions in parts of Hong Kong Island, the city's commercial and financial centre.

Last year the government introduced curbs aimed at property speculators. Starting in late October, a 15 per cent stamp duty was levied on sales to non-permanent Hong Kong residents. A tax of 20 per cent was imposed on properties resold within six months of purchase, according to the LA Times. 

The NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell announced last month plans to refurbish the convention, exhibition and entertainment precinct in Darling Harbour.

The upgrade will see the area boast Australia’s largest convention and exhibition facilities, Sydney’s largest red carpet entertainment venue and a hotel complex of up to 900 rooms. A new urban neighbourhood in Haymarket will be part of one of the most exciting urban renewal projects the city has ever seen, according to a press release from NSW Government.

The preferred bidder is a consortium called Destination Sydney, comprising AEG Ogden, Lend Lease, Capella Capital and Spotless. The facilities and the upgrade of the public domain at Darling Harbour will cost about $1 billion.

The existing car parks on the western side of Darling Harbour will be demolished to make way for the urban neighbourhood, home to high-tech businesses, apartments, student accommodation, shops, cafes and restaurants.

A video fly-over of the new development is available below, and for more information you can read the NSW Premier’s press release here, or the Business Events Sydney website here. 

“The Means” is a report published for a group of London councils, examining the relationship and relevance of parking in ‘successful’ urban centres. The study involved looking at the evidence from reports prepared by foundations, industry associations and public agencies, such as Transport for London. A questionnaire was sent out to all London boroughs, requesting data on parking supply, charging and town centre economic indicators, such as footfall (number of visitors), empty retail units, business turnover and the rate of change in businesses in two town centre areas. Data from market research carried out with shoppers at 3 outer London based shopping centres was also analysed.

Key findings of the report include:

• More parking does not necessarily mean greater commercial success. A well managed parking scheme, where spaces ‘turn over’ frequently can help to increase the number of visitors coming to a town centre and thereby help business.
• There is no such thing as ‘free’ parking. The costs of developing and maintaining parking spaces and then enforcing proper use to ensure good traffic flow have to be borne by somebody. In the case of local authority operated parking (on street or off street) any costs that are not covered by parking revenue falls to local Council Tax payers.
• Shopkeepers consistently overestimate the share of their customers arriving by car. In some cases, this is by a factor of as much as 400%. In London, as well as other cities, the share of those accessing urban centres on foot or by public transport is much greater. Walking is the most important mode for accessing local town centres; public transport is the most important mode for travel to international centres, such as Oxford Street.
• Whilst car drivers spend more on a single trip, walkers and bus users spend more over a week or a month. In 2011, pedestrians in London town centres spent £147 more per month than those travelling by car. Compared with 2004, spending by public transport users and pedestrians has risen; spending by car users and cyclists has decreased.
• A good mix of shops and services and a quality environment are some of the most important factors in attracting visitors to town centres. If both these are poor, then changes to parking or accessibility are very unlikely to make a town centre more attractive.
• Boroughs collect a lot of data on parking but there is less information available on town centre economic factors. Finding ways to coordinate data collection across departments could be helpful to monitor the impacts of parking policies.
• There is very little evidence of the impacts of parking on the night time economy. This is an area that needs more research.

Given the number of local councils, lobby groups, and attention the ‘high street’ urban areas get, and the debate about free parking vs effects on the local businesses, this really solid research explores this relationship closely.

You can download the PDF of the full report from here, or read more online here. 

There is also a detailed appendix with data and graphical charts, providing further statistics from the research, which you can download from here.