Assessing Minimum Parking Requirements and Parking Capacities of Residential Development in the Bangkok Metropolitan Region

Abstract

This paper examines whether minimum parking requirements affect parking provision in condominiums and what factors determine condominiums’ parking capacities. By calculating actual, required, and excess parking capacities, the paper finds that almost 90% of the sample condominiums in Bangkok and the surrounding municipalities in the Bangkok Metropolitan Region provide more parking spaces than required by law. The parking capacities in condominiums outside Bangkok are almost as high as those in Bangkok, despite their required minimums being half those of Bangkok. Only 11% of the sample condominiums provide the required minimums. The figure has decreased to zero in recent years, likely because of soaring land prices. These results suggest that developers’ decisions to provide parking are not determined by parking requirements but by market demand. Results from regression analyses show that parking capacities are determined by total floor area and number of dwelling units in a project, distance to the nearest transit station, and average unit price. Condominiums located in Bangkok are found to provide significantly more parking spaces than those in the suburban municipalities. This result has important policy implications for transit-oriented development, considering that accessibility to public transit is much better in Bangkok than the suburban areas.