Major European cities, including London, face the prospect of losing up to one in seven on-street parking spaces if the current trend of increasing car size persists, new analysis reveals.
The warning comes from think tank Transport & Environment (T&E), whose study also highlights a possible rise in road deaths linked to the growing popularity of larger vehicles such as SUVs, a phenomenon critics have dubbed “carspreading”.
T&E said urban roads are being overwhelmed by “oversized” cars that cities were “simply not designed for.”
The research detailed that since the turn of the millennium, the average length of new cars has expanded by 1.2 cm annually, and the overall height, bonnet height and width have each increased by approximately 0.5 cm per year.
If this trend continues, on-street parking capacity in cities will be reduced by 8.5% to 14% by 2040, according to the analysis.
This means London could lose around 100,000 parking spaces, the study warns.
T&E also claimed that the rise of larger SUVs could lead to around 400 extra road deaths annually by 2040 across the UK and EU, compared to a scenario where car sizes steadily returned to 2015 levels.
The think tank said automakers have “moved away from smaller models” despite “shrinking family sizes and falling car occupancy.”
Anna Krajinska, UK T&E director, said: “Car manufacturers have been pushing large, expensive cars at the expense of smaller models for decades.
“After 25 years of relentless growth, our streets are dominated by large SUVs that cities simply were not designed for.
“The result is a lose-lose situation: 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 proper sizing, car proliferation will continue unchecked and cities will continue to pay the price.”
