FEASIBILITY OF

PARKING PLAZA IN CBD OF KARACHI

ARIF SAMOON UE-06 AHSAN ALI AHMAD UE-29

October 25, 2011

INTRODUCTION
The city of Karachi is tangled into a number of problems. There are numerous shortcomings regarding the sewage systems, electricity supply, water supply, parking etc. This project focuses itself on parking problems being faced in Sadar. This area can very precisely be defined as the most significant area in Karachi that covers all the influential commercial areas and holds key business offices. The existing parking situation is extremely poor. Sadar is facing numerous parking problems all at once. There are issues with safety, security1, space, accessibility issues. The average vehicle owner has to overcome numerous problems, first he has to ensure that his vehicle has to be parked in a no-tow-away zone, then, the security, and safety issue. There are very little, or no law enforcement agencies working in the area. Finally, when a parking is found, it is realized that it is way too far from the point of interest. To overcome this issue, the CDGK developed a parking plaza in 2009. Unfortunately, the PKR 450 million project has had little or no use with the general public. The plaza, in its current state, is not a feasible parking option. There are two major problems with the Parking Plaza. Firstly, it is located at great distance from the main Saddar area. Hence, parking at the facility, and then walking to the point of interest is not a feasible option. Secondly, the Parking Plaza exists in an infrastructure vacuum. There are no complimentary facilities around the parking plaza. There should have been planned, an environmentally friendly par transit or tram system with the CBD, such that the person parking his vehicle in the parking plaza is at a vantage, feeling free of his vehicle, and driving in the comfort of the complimentary transport.

Safety and security are often incorrectly considered as synonyms. Safety is the prevention of accidental injury synonym. or damage to persons or property. Security, on the other hand, is protection of occupants and premises from criminal activity.

2|Page

Figure 1 Map of Sadar Town (CDGK website)

3|Page

1.1

SCOPE OF WORK

This project looks into parking problems being faced at Sadar. Feasibility studies conducted in this respect encompasses the issue as to whether or not a parking structure is required to deal with situation.

1.2

PARKING PLAZA AT SADAR:

Pakistans first parking plaza, constructed in Saddar, inaugurated on July 12 2009 and the services of an international firm having vast experience in this field have been acquired for its management. The parking fee for vehicles and motorcycles has also been determined at Rs.20 and Rs.10 respectively for three hours. It serves 700 vehicles and 500 motorcycles at one time

Objective of parking plaza is not to earn revenue for the city government but to facilitate people and provide parking facilities for vehicles parked on roads. Karachi Is expanding with every passing day and with the growth in population, the number of vehicles was also increasing, if proper parking measures were not taken today, the problems on roads would grow and transport would face difficulties.

4|Page

Saddar is the heart of the city and people come here from all parts of the city. Hence, parking problems on roads here would have to be solved to make the economic hub of city, a more transport efficient area. For the purpose this parking plaza had been constructed. It was also hoped that it will help in giving the area a clean, and more aesthetic look. It was decided that for first three hours, the parking fee will be Rs.20 and subsequently Rs.5 for every additional hour while for motorcycles there will be only one time fee of Rs.10. It was also decided to issue stickers to shopkeepers for parking on a monthly basis, with a fee of Rs.1000. For shopkeepers parking space will be reserved in the basement. The upper stories are reserved for office owners. In the parking plaza all those facilities have been provided as are available in the worlds developed cities which include surveillance cameras, complete computerised system, space for washing and servicing of vehicles, shuttle service from parking plaza to Saddars other areas, construction of roads around the plaza and connecting roads of Saddar with the plaza.

5|Page

LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1
Parking Planning Parking structures are typically contemplated when there is perceived need for more parking than can be accommodated in surface lots serving a building activity. Parking is an enormous of land and resources. Office buildings in suburban settings typically require 1 sq. ft. of the parking for every sq. ft. of leasable sq .ft. parking structures are expensive to own and operate costing up to five times as much as surface parking. Revenue from parking when there is any only rarely pays for the cost of structured parking. Conversely, surface parking is usually not the highest and best use of a parcel of land. Parking structures allow denser development or expansion of and existing land use that otherwise would not be possible. Planning Parking to carefully consider how much parking is really needed, what is the most effective way to develop it and how to finance and pay for it.

2.2

How much space is needed

Parking generation is defined as the peak accumulation of parked vehicles generated by the land uses present under any given set of conditions. Parking demand is the number of spaces that should be provided for a building or group of buildings that typically includes a small cushion of extra spaces over and above the expected peak accumulation of vehicles on a design day. UNITS Parking requirement are generally stated as a ratio of x spaces per y units of land use. Most ratios employ the sq. ft. of building area. Most standard-setting groups today have adopted the spaces/1000 sq. ft. Today, virtually all employ gross floor area which is outside to outside of exterior walls. For purposes of calculation of parking requirements, the vehicular parking and loading areas and the floor area occupied by the electrical mechanical communications and security equipments are deducted from the floor area before application of ratios. DESIGN DAY AND HOURS An important concept in parking analysis is the selection of an appropriate design day and hour. It is not feasible to design the parking system for the peak accumulation of vehicles that might conceivably ever occur and have a substantial number of spaces sit vacant for remaining hours of operation per year. At the same time it is not appropriate to design to an average condition and have insufficient supply for half of the hours in a years. Shared parkingsemply the 90th percentile ratio of peak hour occupancies observed.

6|Page

EFFECTIVE SUPPLY Another important concept in determining the required number of spaces is that of the effective supply as it is known in the parking industry. A parking system operates at optimum efficiency at somewhat less than its actual capacity. It is unrealistic to expect an arriving parker to find the last available parking space in a system without significant frustration and the resulting perception that parking is inadequate. Therefore it is important to have a cushion of extra space in the supply to account for operating fluctuations, vehicle maneuvers, imparked vehicles and minor construction etc. Because perception is reality parking demand must include this effective supply cushion. Thus : Parking demand = parking generated + effective supply cushion.

7|Page

Standard parking generation ratios (spaces/1000 GLA of each use)

Adjust for local conditions, captive ratios & mode split = site-specific ratios

Site specific ratios X sq.ft. of each use = design parking demand for each use.

Adjust for month, day of week & time of day

Separate into visitor and employee components

Calculate accumulation of parked cars on typical days in month

Determine design days/times/months for employees and visitors

Compare to parking availability on site and in area.

Parking plan

Chart: Parking analysis methodology

8|Page

METHODOLOGY
3.1
Preliminary survey A survey has been done initially in which the main congested areas of Sadar starting from the CDGK parking to several different places has been analyzed for the illegal parking, a traffic count has been done and following pictures have been taken.

Figure 2 This is the place where carts are illegally parked and causing the congestion in the area. This picture has been taken in front of Empress Market.

9|Page

Figure 3 This picture show the illegal parking of rickshaws and double parallel parking of the cars causing the congestion.

Figure 4 This pictures shows the irresponsible parking of the drivers at the intersection.

10 | P a g e

It has been analyzed that main congestion is due to the insufficient parking place in the CBD of Karachi. Buildings have their own reserved parking but dont have enough space for the visitors. Along with that the signals and law enforcement agencies are non-existent.

11 | P a g e

RESULTS
4.1
Proposed Parking area As a recommendation for fulfilling the need of parking place in CBD of Karachi, a place near Zainab Market and Tower has been chosen. Here, a parking plaza can be constructed so that people may park their cars and have less distance to approach their destinations. To cope up with the walking distance a shuttle service may be provided in the area of Sadar. The cars should be parked in the available parking plazas.

Figure 5 Relative picture showing the recommended parking plaza near Zainab Market (shaded region) and CDGK Parking Plaza.

The shaded rectangular area comes out as 6760 m2, and the quarter circular area comes out as 1634.407 m2 (see figure below). The suggested area will cater to a surface parking of 300 vehicles, assuming that one vehicle takes up a space of 6m length, and 2 m width. In this way, if a parking structure consisting of three floors is constructed, a parking facility for 900 vehicles will be available for the general public at a nominal parking fee.

12 | P a g e

58.81 m

57.58 m

113.27 m Figure: Plan of proposed parking plaza near Zainab Market.

Figure 6 Place near Zainab Market for proposed parking plaza.

13 | P a g e

67.78 m

Figure 7 Place near Zainab Market for proposed parking plaza.

Parking plazas should be constructed according to the standards as mentioned in the Parking Plan chapter of the report, such that the structure is sustainable.

14 | P a g e

REFERENCES
Map of Saddar town, http://14.192.147.139/cdgk/Home/Towns/GulshanTown/tabid/211/townid/6/default.aspx Introduction to Parking concepts Parking structures: planning, design, construction, maintenance, and repair (Anthony P. Chrest)

15 | P a g e