The multi-story parking garages in Zhengzhou’s older residential neighborhoods are pretty cool.

[Erqi District Launches Version 2.0 of Its Multi-Story Parking Garage—Sales Are No Longer an Issue]

Today, the parking problem that has long plagued residents and the property management of Chenxi Community is about to be resolved: a multi‑level parking garage has been completed behind the community’s management building.

The self-built multi-story parking garage in Chenxi Residential Community

Compared with the multi‑storey car parks put into service in other residential communities a few years ago, this one can be described as a 2.0‑version of the multi‑storey parking system. The most obvious advantage is its minimal footprint: on a site roughly the size of four standard parking spaces, this multi‑level parking structure offers a total of 24 spaces across five levels. According to an official from the Erqi District Parking Management Center, older residential neighborhoods often have limited space, and this innovative multi‑storey garage provides an effective solution for increasing parking capacity without encroaching on already constrained ground areas.

Regarding the often-criticized issue of loud noise from multi‑storey car parks, this type of facility significantly reduces noise levels. Moreover, its construction period has been drastically shortened to approximately one month. According to a responsible official at the Erqi District Parking Management Center, common challenges in developing multi‑storey parking facilities in residential communities include limited available space, reluctance among developers to invest due to long payback periods, lack of consensus among residents, and insufficient engagement by property management companies. In response, Erqi District has pioneered a government‑led model that actively involves all stakeholders, addressing previous obstacles. For instance, joint review and approval meetings have streamlined administrative procedures, boosted corporate participation, and facilitated partnerships with banks. Residents can secure a parking space—secured by their parking spot—as collateral, paying a down payment of just 4,000 yuan to obtain a 30‑year usage right, thereby substantially lowering the initial financial barrier for homeowners. Taking the multi‑storey parking garage in Chenxi Community as a pilot, Erqi District has developed a collaborative model of co‑construction, mutual benefit, and shared value, characterized by government guidance, corporate investment, bank support, property management involvement, and resident benefits. ”

On a notice posted within the Chenxi Community, it was announced that each parking space in the multi‑level garage is available for lease at 48,000 yuan, with a 30‑year term. A one‑year waiver of maintenance fees is included, after which a monthly maintenance charge of 25 yuan will apply. With just over a week remaining before the facility opens to the public, six spaces remain unrented. However, according to a representative from the parking‑lot construction company, there are currently ten registered applicants interested in leasing a space. “Not only is there no shortage of demand—indeed, supply falls short—but compared to the roughly 100,000 yuan required for an underground parking spot today, this price is quite reasonable.”

[Building multi-story parking garages is a good thing, but it’s not easy]

Take the Tiedao Jiayuan residential community near Jingguang Road and Huaihe Road as an example. Built around the year 2000, the community houses more than 1,400 households and currently has over 2,000 registered motor vehicles.

Property manager Zhang said that when the community was first built, parking wasn’t an issue. But as the number of vehicles grew, the management had just painted parking spaces on the ground—only to find soon after that there was no longer enough room to park.

In 2014, at the initiative of the property management and with the consent of the majority of residents, the community constructed two multi‑level parking structures next to the entrance and exit, providing a total of 96 parking spaces. The annual lease fee for each space is approximately RMB 60,000 for a 20‑year term, and virtually all spaces were leased even before construction was completed.

Tie Dao Jia Yuan Residential Community, with a self-built multi‑storey parking garage.

Manager Zhang said that when the automated parking garage was first put into service, it did help ease the parking shortage to some extent. However, as the number of vehicles has grown in recent years, finding a spot has once again become extremely difficult. “To be honest, sometimes securing a parking space is even harder than finding a wife,” he joked. Another pressing reality is that there is no available land left in the community for constructing additional multi‑storey parking garages. Attempting to build such facilities close to residential buildings carries an extremely low chance of success. Although multi‑storey car parks are a welcome development, building them is far from easy. Several residents interviewed said they would welcome such facilities to ease parking shortages, but they are much less keen on having one built right next to their own building.

“While the city has introduced macro-level policies, detailed implementation guidelines are still lacking,” said a local expert in Zhengzhou’s parking sector. On May 10, Director Huang of the Property Management Division of the Zhengzhou Municipal Housing Administration stated that the working guidelines accompanying the “Implementation Plan for the Renovation and Upgrading of Old Residential Communities in Zhengzhou” have already been circulated for public comment and will be issued shortly. However, for existing old residential communities, the construction of multi‑level parking garages will still require specific implementation by the district governments, with each community adopting a tailored policy based on the consent of its residents.