Qingdao's Shinan district is planning to expand its parking capacity in 2024 by adding around 3,100 parking spaces, officials announced at a news conference on Nov 27.

There is currently limited parking space around the district's old residential areas, key hospitals and schools, and tourist attractions, where there is high building density and limited land resources. The problem is particularly pronounced in popular areas like Badaxia, Zhongshan Road, Jiangsu Road and Zhanshan community.

Besides building new lots, district authorities has also negotiated with commercial parking lot operators and the management of residential areas to avail their lots to the public. Currently, over 19,100 commercial parking lots in shopping malls, hotels, office buildings and residential areas have been made available.

Presently, the construction of 20 additional car parks with more than 5,000 lots is underway in places like Badaxia Square, Yongjia Road and No 20 Longkou Road.

A new system powered by internet of things has also been rolled out to collate data related to 31,000 parking spaces in the district. This system would be able to display information like the number of available parking spaces and provide navigation assistance.