One in seven city parking spaces to be lost to 'carspreading' trend

A trend towards bigger cars will mean major cities losing up to one in seven on-street parking spaces, it is claimed.

Think tank Transport & Environment (T&E), which conducted the study, also warned the growing popularity of larger cars such as SUVs - which critics refer to as "carspreading" - could increase road deaths.

It claimed streets are becoming dominated by “oversized” vehicles that cities “simply weren’t designed for”.

The research found that, since the turn of the millennium, the length of new cars has increased by an average of 1.2cm per year, while overall height, bonnet height and width have grown by about 0.5cm per year.

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If this trend continues, on-street parking capacity in cities will be cut by between 8.5% and 14% by 2040, according to the analysis.

This means London could lose about 100,000 parking spaces, the study warned.

T&E also stated that the rise of larger SUVs could lead to about 400 additional road deaths annually by 2040 across the UK and European Union, compared with a scenario in which car sizes steadily returned to 2015 levels.

The think tank claimed that car makers have “shifted away from smaller models” despite “shrinking family sizes and falling car occupancy”.

Anna Krajinska, T&E UK director, said: “Car manufacturers have spent decades pushing large expensive cars at the expense of smaller models.

“After 25 years of relentless growth, our streets are dominated by oversized SUVs that cities simply weren’t designed for.

“The result is a lose-lose: councils are forced to reshape streets around larger vehicles, sacrificing parking capacity, public space and safety in the process.

“This is a market failure. Without clear standards to limit car size and encourage right-sizing, carspreading will continue unchecked, and cities will keep paying the price.”