Still in Colombia, take a look at this commentary from Reinventing Parking on a new parking policy guide that was launched last week in Bogotá.
From the data provided, it is evident that there is a distinct split across South American countries in parking space provisions for new commercial buildings. The graph shows Mexico, Brazil and Chile enforce high parking minimums for new commercial structures, but a very different picture is seen in Colombia and Argentina where the parking minimums are more moderate.
Of course enforcement of higher minimums goes hand in hand with a city’s increasing reliance on car travel, which is not the answer for these already congested cities. It can also impede investment in much-needed new infrastructure. Argentina and Colombia may be on a better track than their neighbours, emulating highly populated Asian cities rather than auto-dependent US ones, but there still needs to be an affordable and accessible public transportation network in place.
According to the article, in the face of increased traffic problems, Bogotá may be headed towards abolishing its parking minimums altogether, a good result for that city!