Large parking lots and excess parking spaces put a strain on our environment, and we’re already experiencing the short- and long-term effects. Earlier in this series, we examined how parking minimums impact our travel choices, leading to worse climate outcomes. This post will focus on other environmental impacts of excess parking.
Parking minimums encourage an excess of parking space, and as we’ve covered throughout this series, setting aside swaths of underutilized, paved-over land comes with consequences. Many of these consequences stem from the way our communities are designed, with destinations spread far apart (a phenomenon often referred to as sprawl). While many factors contribute to sprawl, parking minimums encourage sprawling development and its negative impacts on the environment.
Sprawl has consequences for travel behavior. Destinations spaced far away from each other can be harder to reach by bus, bike, or foot. People in sprawling communities are more likely to drive more often and for longer distances, leading to higher levels of pollution. Sprawl can have negative impacts on wildlife and farmland as well, as the built environment encroaches on natural habitats and agricultural lands.
Requiring an abundance of parking in communities also means requiring more pavement. Paving over soil with impermeable materials and cutting down trees increases the risk of flash floods, as excess water has fewer places to seep into the ground. When runoff from paved parking seeps into groundwater, it brings oil and other contaminants into our waterways, wells, and sewers, exposing wildlife and community residents to potential toxins. Learn more about the pollution caused by pavement here.
Finally, dark asphalt (often used in parking lots) absorbs heat, exacerbating the urban heat island effect, where people living and traveling in urban areas experience heightened temperatures. Extreme heat has severe consequences on health, with some studies finding that the risk of heat-related deaths is 30 percent more likely in urban environments than in rural environments. Learn more about extreme heat and its impacts in this video.
Reducing the amount of parking required in our built environments can help alleviate these adverse climate effects, making our communities more livable and sustainable. Learn more about how parking minimums impact equity, economic development, and the environment in the rest of our series, Parking minimums: A barrier to smart growth.