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Long renowned among residents for slow-crawling traffic and infuriating parking hunts, the Austrian capital of Vienna is taking an unusual approach to solving the problem. Far from adding new lots, it is removing on-street parking.
The idea is to break up concrete, not only to cool things off in summer but to encourage alternative transit options.
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With more than 350 projects focused on converting asphalt into green and public spaces, the city is removing a lot of parking, even in the central Neuer Markt. Located next to some of the biggest tourist attractions, it was once characterized by rows of parking spaces. Now the square has been pedestrianized and filled with trees and seating for locals and visitors.
And one of Vienna's central arteries has been converted into a "Dutch-inspired" cycling street, where 140 parking spots have made way for 1.3 kilometers (0.8 miles) of bike lanes and plant life.
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Ensuring residents can still get around is vital to winning public support for these shifts.
"We have to take people on board," Ina Homeier, a planner at Vienna's Department of Urban Planning and Development, told DW. "We have to ask: how do you want your neighborhood? Do you want it to be filled with cars and without any trees, or do you want something different?" she said.
Expanding paid parking zones brings in €180 million ($209 million) annually, which the city puts directly into cycling infrastructure to encourage alternative mobility. Vienna's green urban agenda has seen residents using cars 37% less than they did in the 1990s.
And though polling indicates that more than two-thirds of the city's residents favor reducing parking and establishing additional green spaces, she believes more people need to be won over.
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