Innovative Methods for Underground Parking in Central Cities-Paper

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Central Beijing faces a severe shortage of parking, with a parking-space-to-vehicle ratio of about 0.5, compared with roughly 1.2 in cities such as New York, Tokyo, and Hong Kong. In historic Shichahai, narrow hutong alleys, protected buildings, and limited ground space make conventional parking development difficult. The local government planned about 5,000 underground spaces using a range of approaches.<br /><br />The paper details a proposed 23.2-meter-deep mechanical parking facility beneath a quadrangle. Its compact basement would provide 44 spaces. Construction challenges include nearby old buildings, protected trees, groundwater, restricted access, and strict noise and dust limits. The selected solution combines covered excavation with top-down construction: steel pipe piles retain the excavation, successive concrete levels support them, and jet-grouted piles help control groundwater. Small equipment and a staged construction plan are intended to reduce impacts on the surrounding area.<br /><br />Other examples demonstrate the adaptability of underground construction: a facility built using prefabricated sinking-caisson walls; a basement added beneath an operating building using underpinning; and a proposed hutong project using an undermining method to extend parking beneath a road that must remain open.<br /><br />The authors conclude that developing underground space can ease parking shortages and support urban renewal, but construction in established districts requires specialized methods, compact equipment, and careful management of nearby structures and community impacts. Further work is needed on design, monitoring, equipment, and risk management.

Keywords

Beijing parking shortage

underground parking

Shichahai

hutong alleys

mechanical parking facility

covered excavation

top-down construction

groundwater control

urban renewal

construction risk management