The Role of Research in the Development of Parking Policy in a Large City: The Case of London

Parking plays an important role in the centre of large cities both as a transport service component and as a policy instrument to foster an improved balance between car use, public transport and environmental conditions. This paper examines the case for London from the end of the Second World War, when car ownership was below 0.05 cars per person in the metropolitan area, to the present day, when it approaches 0.27. The changing role of parking in the urban transport scene is discussed along with the evaluation of public policy objectives for parking control and operation. Four major themes are considered: (1) the utilization of and demand for vehicle parking; (2) the development of parking stock and controls over its availability; (3) the responsiveness of demand to fiscal and other controls; and (4) the impact of parking and parking controls on urban activities. The paper focuses on the more critical and most studied sectors of the parking scene, i.e., non-residential core parking, but also extends to deal with residential parking in inner areas, park and ride etc. The paper then attempts to identify the more important current policy issues and, in the light of the contribution that research has made to this area in the past, give some views on future research requirements.