Yesterday, I came across a tweet by Sharifa Alshalfan, a member of the Kuwait Municipal Council, sharing a proposal that I think is a great idea for solving the current congestion in suburban areas. Sharifa tweeted that she had submitted an amendment to the residential building regulations, aimed at addressing the increasing number of cars in residential neighborhoods and their negative impact on the quality of life.
Currently, the regulations only allow the ground floor of a residential building to extend to the property line, while upper floors must be set back. Sharifa’s proposal seeks to modify the regulations to change this rule. The amendment would allow parking spaces to be added on the ground floor and make up for the lost space by letting the first and second floors extend out to the property line.
Key features of the proposal include:
Optional parking spaces within the plot: Giving property owners the choice to add parking without compromising living space above.
Automatic shading: The new design would provide shading for parking spaces through the upper floors’ extension, eliminating the need for separate canopies.
Improved pedestrian safety and greenery: The changes aim to create a more pedestrian-friendly environment and enhance the greenery in residential areas.
I had an architect help me create the image above to help visualize how this proposal would work. I’m actually surprised this wasn’t suggested before since it makes so much sense. According to Sharifa, the average 400m plot house can easily fit 6 cars.
Sharifa’s proposal is part of a bigger effort to update building rules to better fit our changing cities and make life better for people living there. According to her, it could take 2 months or longer to find out if this proposal is approved or rejected.
Sharifa is the co-author of “THE MULTIPLEX TYPOLOGY: Living in Kuwait’s hybrid homes”, a book on housing in Kuwait co-authored with Joaquín Pérez-Goicoechea and Sarah AlFraih. If you’re interested, the book is available to purchase at That Al Salasil in The Avenues.
Thanks Zaydoun!
6 replies on “A New Parking Solution for Residential Areas”
Sharifa is one of the smartest people i know, she has countless amazing ideas, including the ones she has for public transport and ways/solutions to reduce traffic jams here in kuwait!
Its one thing to have ideas, it takes whole other personality to implement it.
I guess people would and will abuse this amendment if implemented. Currently you can do what she is proposing but would compromise a few meters from the sides, if you are edgy and like this design then it would not be a problem for you. However most of the people in Kuwait want to maximize the allowed space, so we are back to step zero.
The congestion problem is shared one across government entities, a quick fix for it is to patrol a police cars and start fining people specially the ones parking over the pedestrian walking space in front of houses.
Smart idea but SO SO late to the game. Hope its used in all future home building.
Local planning has no vision for residential & commercial parking. We have all been victim of it for decades. Build buildings with no garages so were forced to park wherever then issued a parking ticket or towed. No logic, no
Common sense, no brain cells used.
the house in the pic looks like Kuwait’s version of a tiny home 😂
the picture you provided above dose not show how the houses will look if they implement the proposed design. in the picture the first floor starts at least 1 meter from the plot line and second floor another 1 meter, while the proposal will allow for the first and second floor to be built on the plot line. this is a terrible idea specially with the inner small streets.