Push to turn thousands of CBD car parks into green space

Thousands of car parks would be turned into parklets under a plan to bring people back into the city.

A proposal from RMIT researchers suggests turning 10,000 parking spots in Melbourne’s CBD into green spaces, creating enough tree canopy to cover 30 MCGs and helping to protect the city from heat waves, soak up stormwater and reduce flood risk.

Those behind the plan say up to half of the street parking could be moved to within a 200-metre walk to vacant parking spaces.

Urban planner and spatial analyst from RMIT’s Centre for Urban Research, Thami Croeser, says the trick is “that we just put them in buildings”.

Press PLAY below to hear how extra off-street parking could be found in the CBD

(Image: RMIT)