Optimisation of urban space based on geometric analysis of parallel parking lots

Within the current context of optimization of urban space to give more prominence to pedestrian spaces and cycle lanes, the study of the optimization of parking space becomes important. In this research in-line parking in urban environments for vehicles has been studied. Two possible types of design are usually defined in our cities: individual parking spaces discretized or continuous car parks; the purpose of the research is to elucidate which type of parking efficiently optimizes the use of public space, meaning which of the two designs can accommodate a larger number of cars. To this end, a method has been developed and therefore applied to different parking spaces in the city of Oviedo, Spain. The result shows how the inherent self-management of the continuous parking design sometimes results in a lower number of parked vehicles compared to what the same space could accommodate if it had been designed with discretized spaces. Furthermore, the research has allowed us to state the advantages offered by the discretized parking design beyond the optimization of urban space, in the current and future context where autonomous vehicles (for parking maneuvers at present) and apps are becoming more and more generalized.