Abstract:
To calculate parking requirements, architects and planners typically use generic standards issued or approved by local authorities. In many cases, these calculations are made up depending on observations of peak demand for parking at single-use developments, or copied from a city to another; regardless of the local key determinants of parking requirements. The application of these rigid standards is argued to issue forceful impacts on design and planning; being the agent to cause a surplus of parking spaces, maximize the financial cost and indirectly affect the natural environment and the green infrastructure.

To rationally react to the paradoxical situation when calculating parking requirements, the paper tries to find a balance between ‘standardization’ and ‘customization’. Firstly, the perplexity of parking standards is highlighted via reviewing the parking requirements as stated in four selected US cities and in the Egyptian Code. After that, key determinants of parking demand, that would affect developing parking standards, are identified. Further, innovative alternatives to reduce parking requirements are studied, and guidelines to fulfill the requirements of parking spaces needed for an existing development or building are introduced.