This paper centers on a case study of the serious parking issues found in the historic Daoli district of Harbin, one of northeast China’s major cities.

Nearly half of parking takes place informally, usually on walkways and in building setbacks. More than 3,300 cars are parked on walkways and in setbacks in the Daoli study area during peak times. Most cars are parked all day and for free. Expanding off-street parking supply in Daoli and other parts of the city center has been suggested by several officials as an important policy goal. Potentially, this could involve the demolition of existing buildings to create more off-street parking. The results presented here show that adding new off-street parking would have little or no impact on either parking availability or walkway parking. There is ample parking in underground garages already, but drivers continue to park on the walkway, presumably to save money and because it is most convenient.