Global benchmark: how cities and states are dropping parking minimums
From Buffalo to Mexico City to London, a fast-growing list of places has stopped forcing new buildings to include a fixed number of car spaces. Indian...
Urban land · Mobility · Climate
Helping Indian cities last longer.
WA Foundation researches how cities use their scarcest resource, land, and turns that evidence into policy city governments can adopt. We start with parking and mobility, because that is where land, travel and emissions meet.
Not-for-profitSection 8 company, registered in Pune
Evidence firstEvery position rests on data we publish
Open by defaultMethods and data shared for others to use
SDG 11 & 13Sustainable cities and climate action
The problem
Cities are consuming the land they need to grow well
The resource Indian cities run out of first is not water or power. It is land. Much of it is quietly given over to parked cars.
Land locked up for cars
Surface lots, roadside parking and basement floors take prime land that could hold homes, green space or public transport.
Parking shapes how we travel
Cheap, plentiful parking makes the private car the easy choice, and private vehicles are a fast-growing source of urban emissions.
Searching adds emissions
Cars circling for a space add congestion and pollution that no one in most Indian cities measures today.
Codes lock in carbon
Mandatory parking minimums put concrete and steel into every new building, whether or not the spaces are ever used.
Decisions without data
Most urban local bodies have no inventory of how much land parking uses, what it costs, or what it emits.
Our starting point
We put numbers on that loss, street by street, and show cities what to change.
Our approach
Climate action through urban land and mobility
The fastest way for a new organisation to move climate outcomes in Indian cities is to own one lever completely, then widen.
- Parking is a climate lever, not a niche. It decides how much land goes to cars, how people travel and how much carbon goes into new buildings.
- Land is the scarcest urban resource. Making it last longer is the most direct form of circular city-making.
- Evidence first, advocacy second. Cities act on numbers from their own streets, not on global frameworks.
Research
Field audits, land-use and emissions analysis.
Policy
Model codes, bylaws and policy briefs.
Capacity
Training for city officials and planners.
Partnerships
Joint work with academia, cities and NGOs.
Roadmap
Narrow entry, broad mission
We widen our scope in four phases. Each one is opened by the evidence and relationships the previous phase built.
Years 1–2 · Now
Parking and land
- Pune ward-level audit
- Open data and policy brief
- First training course for officials
Years 2–3
Mobility
- Public and shared transport
- Walking and cycling
- EV charging in cities
Years 3–4
Urban land use
- Zoning and building codes
- Land value and reuse
- Model state policy
Years 4–5
Climate resilience
- Heat and flooding
- Emissions accounting
- City climate plans
Built on research · policy advocacy · capacity building · partnerships
Flagship study · Years 1–2
Pune Urban Land and Parking Audit
The first city-scale measure of how much land parking takes in Pune, what it costs, and what it emits. We will start in pilot wards with an academic partner, then publish the data, the method and a policy brief for the city.
Questions we will answer
- How much land in selected wards is used for parking?
- How much traffic and emissions come from searching for a space?
- What do parking rules add to construction cost and carbon?
- Which policy changes free the most land and cut the most emissions?
Global goals
Aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals
SDG 11 and SDG 13 are at the centre of our work.
11
SDG 11: Sustainable cities and communities
13
SDG 13: Climate action
12
SDG 12: Responsible consumption
9
SDG 9: Industry, innovation and infrastructure
17
SDG 17: Partnerships for the goals
Latest
Publications and news
London's 2004 parking reform: what happened when minimums were scrapped
When London replaced parking minimums with maximums, new development came with about 40% less parking. A short look at the evidence and what Indian ci...
Mexico City: from parking minimums to maximums, and meters that pay for footpaths
In 2017 Mexico City turned its parking minimums into maximums, after finding that over 40% of building floor area went to parking. Its ecoParq meters...
Work with us on the cities we want to live in
We are looking for academic partners, city governments, CSR teams and volunteers who want evidence-led urban change.