Reducing the "pressure" on parking spaces in apartment buildings: Need for a long-term vision

The lack of parking spaces, especially car parking spaces, not only occurs in big cities like Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, but has also appeared in some high-rise apartment buildings in Thanh Hoa, causing inconvenience to people's lives and significantly affecting urban order, requiring long-term solutions.

Part of the playground area and common walkway of Tecco Towers Apartment, Hac Thanh ward is arranged as parking space.

Many cars, few parking spaces

At the Tecco Towers Apartment project in Hac Thanh ward, 3 apartment buildings A, B, C are 21 stories high, 1 basement with 532 apartments and 10 commercial apartments. The land area for the project is 5,500m2, of which the apartment building construction area is 2,885m2; the garden area, flower beds and green trees are 2,615m2. The parking area according to the approved design documents is 1,362m2 and is arranged in the basement of the building. This basement area ensures parking space for bicycles and motorbikes, and can also accommodate 92 car parking spaces. Meanwhile, this apartment building currently has hundreds of cars, making it even more difficult for visitors to find parking spaces. The traffic jam and chaos around the apartment complex used to be a "problem" that made local authorities and related units struggle to find a solution. Up to now, cars that do not have parking space in the basement have to park in part, in the playground area, the common walkway of the apartment building or on the sidewalk, in the area of ​​Trinh Tung and Pham Van streets...

Louis Apartment Project, Hac Thanh Ward was formed in 2019, with a scale of 20-storey building, 1 basement, in which the 1st and 2nd floors of the building are arranged for office services. The land area for project implementation is 3,425.2m2; the parking area according to the approved design documents in the basement of the building, but the area is small, not meeting the demand for car parking. Cars of households living in the apartment building as well as of customers coming to do transactions at the offices must be arranged to park in the yard, internal road or on the road, sidewalk in the surrounding area...

Having bought a social housing apartment at the Social Housing Project at 81 Truong Thi, Hac Thanh Ward, Ms. Nguyen TT has moved here to live for more than 3 years. In early 2025, her family saved up money to buy a car, but the thing she was most concerned about was finding a parking space. Ms. T. said: "The building has a basement for cars and motorbikes, with about 40 parking spaces, but it is full. Many motorbikes even have to be arranged in rows in front of the building. Now, when coming home from work, finding a parking space is really difficult.

Finding solutions to difficult "problems"

The Department of Construction's assessment shows that the lack of parking spaces in apartment buildings in the province is also a common situation in many provinces and cities across the country. There are many factors leading to this situation, namely: Some apartment projects were implemented long before the National Technical Regulation on Apartment Buildings took effect (Regulation QCVN 04:2019/BXD, replaced by Regulation QCVN 04:2021/BXD); meanwhile, the rapid urbanization and the increase in personal vehicles in recent years are the main causes of great pressure on urban technical infrastructure.

Low-income apartment building at lot C5 in the South Urban Area of ​​Thanh Hoa City (now Hac Thanh ward).

The forecasting and calculation ability of some investors and state management agencies for planning and investment projects are still limited, and the development of personal vehicles is not foreseen. The cost of construction investment to arrange parking space for cars can increase the total investment, leading to an increase in apartment prices, so investors have not paid much attention to it, while the psychology of buying apartments at low prices accounts for a high proportion. In addition, some reasons stem from the low awareness of parking of some people...

Faced with the difficult problem of parking spaces in high-rise apartment projects, the overall solution proposed by the province's specialized sectors is: Continue to improve the management of the establishment, appraisal, and approval of construction planning projects; appraisal, approval of designs, and construction permits for construction investment projects with apartment buildings, ensuring the minimum parking space is 1.3 times the minimum requirement of current standards. At the same time, research and advise on solutions to develop public transport and smart parking lots according to regulations; solutions to park cars on the roadway and urban sidewalks according to regulations. Local authorities and functional sectors need to regularly inspect, review, and have plans to arrange and organize parking spots to ensure landscape, fire prevention and fighting, and rescue according to regulations. Investors and apartment building management boards need to closely coordinate with local authorities, relevant agencies and units, research and propose solutions and organize the implementation of effective car parking arrangements and parking lots, reducing the "pressure" on parking spaces in apartment buildings.

A particularly important factor is that competent authorities need to review, research, evaluate and make appropriate adjustments to current standards. Parking planning in apartment projects must be calculated scientifically , feasible and closely linked to the overall project site, apartment building location, ensuring long-term vision. From there, public spaces, campuses and parking lots must be reasonably arranged to meet the actual needs of people and the requirements of sustainable urban development.

Article and photos: Viet Huong

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/giam-ap-luc-cho-de-xe-tai-chung-cu-can-tam-nhin-dai-han-269377.htm