Streets are one of the most valuable assets a city has. Urban planners, especially in the U.S., have operated on the assumption for years that streets are first and foremost for cars. The car culture is deeply ingrained in urban policy. This mind set carries over into parking. Individually, a parking spot seems small, but collectively, they take up an enormous amount of space, roughly 25 percent of developable urban land in the U.S. Much of this parking is free and part of the role of city streets.
This prioritizing of vehicles creates a lot of asphalt, which adds to rising temperatures (the heat island effect), worsens flooding during rainstorms, and diminishes the comfort of people. Some cities are questioning these patterns.
Vienna is one such city. It is removing street parking in favor of public space. The historic Neuer Markt in the center of the city has been transformed from car parking into a pedestrian-friendly area with trees, benches, public art, and gathering spaces.