New UCLA report: parking minimums can add 26% to 70% to building costs

Policy watch · Global · reported 19 February 2026

UCLA's Institute of Transportation Studies published No Such Thing as Free Parking, updating a 2012 analysis by the late Donald Shoup. Underground parking averages about $73,000 per space and above-ground about $52,000, excluding land. Required parking can raise total costs by 39% for small studio flats and up to 70% for shopping centres when underground. At least 12 of the 17 cities studied have fully or partly removed minimums.

Why it matters: India lacks comparable published estimates of what parking adds to the cost of homes and offices.

Source: UCLA ITS

Policy watch is WA Foundation's summary of public reporting on parking, mobility and urban land. We link to the original reports; figures are as reported by them.