Parking is expensive and hard to find! Benchmarking Shenzhen, what can Qingdao learn from its smart parking solutions?

Difficult and expensive parking is becoming a new urban malaise. Driving is meant to be convenient, yet finding a spot has turned into a major hassle. How can we make parking easier? This has become a thorny challenge for cities like Qingdao. Following Shenzhen’s lead—indeed, striving to catch up—what lessons can Qingdao draw from Shenzhen on this pressing issue?

On August 9, the 2019 China (Qingdao) Urban Smart Parking Industry Summit Forum was held at Qingdao International Academy Harbor. During the event, Gu Dasong, Executive Director of the Key Research Base for Transportation Industry Policies and Regulations in Jiangsu Province, delivered a speech titled “Qingdao: A City‑Level Parking Governance Model Benchmarked Against Shenzhen,” presenting a Shenzhen‑style solution to parking challenges.

Legalization and standardization are defining features of Shenzhen’s parking management.

At present, Shenzhen has issued the “Urban Parking Guidance Technical Specifications,” the “Technical Requirements for Parking Garage (Lot) Space Guidance and Positioning Systems,” and the “Technical Requirements for Vehicle Video Image and License Plate Information Acquisition and Transmission Systems in Parking Garages (Lots).” Meanwhile, the development of the “Parking Garage (Lot) Management Service Standards,” the “Parking Garage (Lot) Traffic Facility Construction and Acceptance Standards,” the “Parking Garage (Lot) Security System Requirements,” and the “Drawing Standards for Parking Garage (Lot) Traffic Facility Construction Drawings” is underway.

Among the series of regulations, one addresses the issue of expensive parking. — Prior administrative approval for on-street parking lots.

In simple terms, to charge vehicles for parking, mere registration is not sufficient; you must first obtain the “Shenzhen Commercial Parking Lot License.” Not long ago, a parking lot in Longhua provided paid parking services without holding the required license, and Shenzhen traffic police, in accordance with the law, confiscated the illegal proceeds generated by that facility. RMB 51,182; a fine of RMB 5,000 was imposed, and a notice of rectification was issued.

Addressing the issue at its source and enforcing the law rigorously is a highly effective strategy for either shutting down illegally overcharging parking lots or curbing excessively high fees.

Besides arbitrary fees, the lack of parking options is a major headache for drivers.

Parking spaces are in short supply, and to address the issue at its root, expansion is still necessary. In response to the parking shortage, Shenzhen has launched… The “Hundred-Thousand-Ten-Thousand” Project. By 2020, the plan is to build 100 new public parking facilities, renovate 1,000 aging residential (small) communities with parking infrastructure needs, and add 10,000 on-street parking spaces, with a focus on alleviating parking shortages in areas concentrated with public amenities—such as hospitals, parks, schools, government offices, transportation hubs, and tourist attractions—as well as in older residential neighborhoods.

Expanding parking capacity is no overnight task; addressing the immediate need may require smart services.

Utilize “Internet Plus” integrates parking‑lot data into a database, enabling drivers to check real-time availability via a mobile app. The system recommends parking spaces based on individual preferences, while administrators analyze the data to fine-tune pricing policies, thereby maximizing parking efficiency and offering an effective short‑term solution to parking challenges. Currently, several such apps are available in China; among them, the “Guoyi Parking” app has connected 2,306 parking facilities in Qingdao, providing access to over 270,000 parking spaces.

Moreover, addressing the parking shortage will likely fall short of ideal results if left solely to the government. Empowering professionals to handle what they do best and leveraging the resources of civil society organizations may be the key to making parking more accessible.

As early as On November 30, 2017, Shenzhen established its first parking industry association—the Shenzhen Parking Technology Enterprises Industry Association. On June 30 this year, the first phase of the Shenzhen Smart Parking Cloud Platform system was launched for trial operation.

In January 2014, a group of domestic experts and scholars reached eight consensus points on urban parking challenges in Nanjing. These included: adopting the principle of “public governance” rather than “administrative management” to encourage the participation of diverse stakeholders in addressing urban parking issues; relying on market‑driven mechanisms instead of government‑led solutions to fully leverage the role of parking‑related policies; and prioritizing technology to advance the scientific development of urban parking management.

We look forward to leveraging the power of technology and social governance so that, in the near future, parking will no longer be a challenge.