Changwon City, First Implementation of Neighbor Sharing Parking Lot in the 7th Local Government Term Shows Significant Effectiveness

Securing 1,060 Parking Spaces Around Residential Areas, Saving 63 Billion Won in Budget

A view of the vacant lot 'Neighbor Sharing Parking Lot' located in Uichang-gu, Changwon, Gyeongnam. (Photo by Changwon City)

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Hwang Choi Hyun-joo] Changwon City in Gyeongnam announced on the 18th that the ‘Vacant Land Public Parking Lot Creation’ project, first implemented during the 7th term of the elected mayor, has greatly contributed to alleviating downtown parking difficulties.

To improve people-centered transportation welfare, the city developed and implemented last year the vacant land public parking lot policy, also known as the ‘Neighbor Sharing’ parking lot, and plans to expand it to 1,060 spaces by this year.

The ‘Vacant Land Public Parking Lot Project’ is a project that converts privately owned land left unused for a long time in downtown areas into free parking lots for neighboring residents, with the landowner’s free-use consent, achieving a win-win effect.

The project target sites are idle lands with no utilization plans for over two years, and are operated with minimal facilities such as environmental maintenance, leveling, and parking line installation through public job projects. The cost per parking space is about 600,000 KRW, and providers of vacant land receive a 100% property tax exemption according to the Local Tax Act.

Also, in connection with the ‘Vacant House Maintenance Support Project,’ if the vacant house site is provided as a public parking lot for more than three years, applicants can receive a subsidy of 3 million KRW. Landowners wishing to participate in the project can apply at the Economic Transportation Division of the responsible district office or the Eup/Myeon/Dong Administrative Welfare Center.

Choi Young-cheol, Director of the Safety, Construction, and Transportation Bureau of Changwon City, said, “The Neighbor Sharing parking lot created since the 7th term of the elected mayor is a good policy that improves transportation welfare and fosters neighborly affection at low cost, and it is being benchmarked by other local governments.”

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