A paradigm is a shared framework of assumptions, methods and examples that shapes how a field understands its problems. The philosopher and historian of science Thomas Kuhn popularized the idea of a paradigm shift, when a field replaces one framework with another.
Parking has been going through one. The older paradigm treated parking as a fixed requirement to be supplied free or cheaply at every destination, sized to the busiest hour. The emerging paradigm treats parking as a shared, priced and managed resource, measured by how well it is used rather than how much of it exists.
The parking paradigm, then and now
- Supply set by minimum requirements at every site, versus supply set by measured demand and sharing.
- Free or flat pricing, versus pricing that keeps spaces available.
- Single-use garages, versus facilities designed to adapt to new mobility and other uses. See future-flexible design.
- Hardware-first technology, versus software and data that connect the parts of the system.
The Parkonomics view
A word worn thin by overuse still describes something real here. The industry’s most valuable skill is no longer building spaces but managing them.
Related terms: Parking Minimums, Shared Parking, Dynamic Pricing, Future-Flexible Design, Smart Growth