Five large car parks will be built this year at metro stations as part of efforts to increase the city's total parking capacity by 50,000, authorities said over the weekend.
Speaking at the city's ongoing annual political consultative conference, which opened on Feb 16, Wang Dong, director of the Guangzhou urban planning bureau, said the local government plans to build large-scale parking lots at key stations to give motorists better access to the metro service and downtown destinations.
"We will increase the total number of parking spaces in the city by 150,000 between now and 2010, with 50,000 coming this year," Wang said.
Wang said.the total cost of the project will be 1 billion yuan ($140 million) with the additional spaces making it easier for private car owners to use public transport, so they won't have to park their cars downtown.
Wang also said authorities were also planning to build an underground car park at the Tianhe Sports Center, which is close to some of the city's biggest shopping malls and office buildings.
In the government report to the annual people's congress, Guangzhou Mayor Zhang Guangning said authorities will also seek private funding for the development of the proposed car park at the Tianhe Sports Center and also the ones at Guangzhou East railway station and the city's International Convention and Exhibition Center.
He said investors might be allowed to develop additional commercial activities at the sites to boost their returns.
In addition, Wang said the urban planning authority has introduced a new ruling that stipulates all new property developments must provide one car parking space for every 200 sq m of residential accommodation.
According to official figures for last year, Guangzhou had more than 1 million cars on its roads, with 600 new ones being licensed every day.
Construction of the new parking spaces is expected to begin soon.
（英语点津 Celene 编辑）
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Brendan joined The China Daily in 2007 as a language polisher in the Language Tips Department, where he writes a regular column for Chinese English Language learners, reads audio news for listeners and anchors the weekly video news in addition to assisting with on location stories. Elsewhere he writes Op’Ed pieces with a China focus that feature in the Daily’s Website opinion section.
He received his B.A. and Post Grad Dip from Curtin University in 1997 and his Masters in Community Development and Management from Charles Darwin University in 2003. He has taught in Japan, England, Australia and most recently China. His articles have featured in the Bangkok Post, The Taipei Times, The Asia News Network and in-flight magazines.
