Parking policies and mobility solutions in ELABORATOR
- 12 minutes ago
- 4 min read
Managing car use and parking demand is becoming a central challenge for cities. Whether administrations seek to improve public space, reduce congestion, or promote sustainable mobility, access to parking is an ever-present issue, especially when urban areas grow and commuting patterns evolve.
Within the ELABORATOR project, several living lab cities are testing new approaches to address these challenges. By combining data collection, technological solutions, and citizen engagement, the project supports cities in developing more inclusive and sustainable mobility systems.
Three pilot cases: lighthouse cities Copenhagen and Trikala, as well as the follower city of Liberec, demonstrate how different urban contexts can lead to complementary solutions for managing parking and reducing car dependency.
Liberec: Understanding parking demand through data
In Liberec, the ELABORATOR pilot focuses on the Rochlice housing estate, a residential area where parking demand has increased significantly over time. Like many housing estates built several decades ago, Rochlice was designed when car ownership was much lower. Today, the available parking capacity struggles to meet the needs of residents.
To better understand the situation, the city carried out a detailed local survey measuring parking occupancy, turnover, and parking behaviour throughout the day. The results revealed several key patterns:
Parking capacity is exceeded for much of the day, with vehicles frequently parked outside designated spaces.
Most parked vehicles belong to residents and remain in the same location for long periods.
A significant number of parking spaces are reserved for specific license plates, reducing flexibility in the system.
Short-term parking demand exists throughout the day, particularly for deliveries and passenger pick-ups.
These findings confirmed that the challenge is not only insufficient capacity but also the inefficient use of existing parking spaces.
Based on the monitoring results and feedback from residents, the city has reduced the number of parking permits issued for permanent parking, responding to the growing number of vehicles and pressure on residential streets. It is also introducing restrictions on large vehicles, installing signage to limit vans and trucks in residential areas where they reduce visibility and occupy valuable space.
At the same time, Liberec has deployed sensors and cameras to monitor parking occupancy and traffic conditions. These technologies have quickly proven useful beyond parking management. The same system is now used to monitor pedestrian safety, including in underpasses and at pedestrian crossings where accidents have occurred.
Other municipal departments and the local police are now using the collected data as well, and the city plans to expand the sensor network to additional areas.
Copenhagen: Reclaiming street space from cars
While Liberec focuses on improving the efficiency of existing parking systems, Copenhagen is pursuing a complementary strategy: reducing parking supply to create more space for people and sustainable mobility.
In the historic centre of the city, known as the Medieval City, the municipality has launched a transformation as part of its Urban Space and Traffic Plan. The initiative aims to prioritise walking, cycling, greenery, and urban life by reducing the space allocated to cars.
As part of the plan, around 600 of the 1,050 existing on-street parking spaces in the city centre are being removed and gradually replaced with bicycle parking, pedestrian areas, vegetation, and spaces for social activities. Residents who previously relied on on-street parking are offered access to nearby parking garages so that essential mobility needs can still be met while freeing public space for other uses.
Public acceptance and mobility behaviour
Because parking policies directly affect daily travel habits, understanding public attitudes is essential. In Copenhagen, a large survey conducted before implementation collected responses from nearly 3,900 participants, including both residents and people who regularly park in the city centre.
The results showed that support for the policy strongly depends on mobility habits:
A majority of residents supported transforming parking spaces into areas for walking, cycling, and greenery.
Frequent users of on-street parking were less supportive of the policy.
Higher levels of car dependence were associated with lower support for reducing parking supply.
Citizens who rely less on private cars or prefer other travel modes were more supportive of the changes.
These findings highlight the importance of combining parking reforms with broader sustainable mobility policies.
Trikala: Park-and-ride for sustainable commuting
In Trikala, the ELABORATOR living lab is addressing a different mobility challenge. A large share of citizens commute daily from suburban and rural areas, where public transport options are limited. As a result, car use remains dominant and contributes to congestion, emissions, and reduced quality of public space in the city centre.
To address this issue, the city is developing a park-and-ride system at the periphery of the city. Three park-and-ride locations are being established where commuters can leave their cars before entering the city centre. From these locations, travellers will be able to continue their journey using municipal bicycles available at the stations, supporting first- and last-mile connections and encouraging more active mobility options.
The intervention is supported by smart monitoring technologies. Sensors and software will track the usage of the bicycle fleet and collect mobility data. This data will help the city better understand travel patterns, identify issues such as illegal parking on cycling lanes, and support the redesign of safer cycling infrastructure.
The information collected will also help municipal authorities and the police improve traffic management and enforcement. More broadly, the park-and-ride system is expected to contribute to reducing private car use in the city centre, improving safety for cyclists and pedestrians, and supporting Trikala’s vision for sustainable and climate-neutral mobility.
Complementary solutions for sustainable mobility
Although Liberec, Copenhagen, and Trikala face different urban challenges, their experiences illustrate complementary approaches to managing parking and reducing car dependence:
Liberec focuses on improving the efficiency of existing parking systems through monitoring and data-driven regulation.
Copenhagen is reclaiming street space by reducing parking supply and prioritising walking, cycling, and urban life.
Trikala is encouraging commuters to leave their cars outside the city centre through park-and-ride solutions and active mobility options.
Together, these approaches show how parking and access management can become powerful tools for improving urban mobility and public space.
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Sources
You can view the full papers published by Copenhagen and Liberec on ELABORATOR's Zenodo webpage.
