There are 1.2 million vehicles in Berlin – more than ever before. These cars must park somewhere. Public space in cities does not grow with the population, nor with the number of vehicles. On average, every parked car uses up 12 square metres of space.
When we formed the initiative “Parkplatz transform” (transform parking spaces), we asked “how many public parking spaces there are in Berlin?” No-one knew exactly. Where local government does not manage parking and parking remains free, the number of free spaces is unknown to local authorities. We want to raise awareness about the amount of space allocated to cars in town and plan to map the whole city. Before the pandemic, we organized outings to map the number of parking spaces in an area together. During the Corona pandemic, we have developed the prototype of an App with which parking spaces can easily be mapped individually. We are currently testing this prototype.
We want less space to be allocated to parking, and that car owners pay for their privilege of using public space. We want to develop these alternatives with people in every kiez. We already have many ideas that we want to promote. We want more gardens, streets where kids can play, public meeting places, more footpaths and bicycle lanes, and more park benches. We want to make these alternatives visible. All people who live in limited city space would benefit from having more air to breathe when there are fewer cars. Everyone stands to gain from habitable cities with congestion-free mobility.
Urban transport must change. We need more space for public transport, car sharing and commercial transport. Designated areas for disabled parking will make life easier for those who do need a car.
If you are interested in getting involved, collecting, analyzing data feel free to get in touch at parkplatztransform@riseup.net
