London and other major European cities risk losing up to one in seven on-street parking spaces if car sizes continue to increase at the current rate, new analysis warns.
Think tank Transport & Environment (T&E), which conducted the study, also warned that the trend towards larger cars such as SUVs – which critics refer to as carspreading – could increase road deaths.
It claimed streets are becoming dominated by “oversized” vehicles that cities “simply weren’t designed for.”
The research found that since the turn of the millennium, the length of new cars has increased by an average of 1. 2cm per year, while overall height, bonnet height and width have grown by about 0.5 cm per year.
If this trend continues, on-street parking capacity in cities will be cut by between 8.5% and 14% by 2040, according to the analysis.
This means London could lose about 100,000 parking spaces, the study warned.
T&E also stated that the rise of larger SUVs could lead to about 400 additional road deaths annually by 2040 across the UK and European Union, compared with a scenario in which car sizes steadily returned to 2015 levels.
The think tank claimed that car makers have “shifted away from smaller models” despite “shrinking family sizes and falling car occupancy.”
"Car manufacturers have spent decades pushing large expensive cars at the expense of smaller models. After 25 years of relentless growth, our streets are dominated by oversized SUVs that cities simply weren’t designed for," Anna Krajinska, T&E UK director, said.
"The result is a lose-lose: councils are forced to reshape streets around larger vehicles, sacrificing parking capacity, public space and safety in the process," she said.
"This is a market failure. Without clear standards to limit car size and encourage right-sizing, carspreading will continue unchecked, and cities will keep paying the price."
